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THE  TREASURE   OF  THE   CHURCH 


The 

Treasure  of  the  Church 

Or 

THE  SACRAMENTS  OF  DAILY  LIFE 

I  BX 


BY  THE 

VERY   REV   J.    B.    BAGSHAWE,   D.D. 

Canon  Penitentiary  of  Southwark 
Author  of  "THE  THRESHOLD  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  ' 


J« 


JESUIT  PROViNCiAL'S  RESIDENCE 
TORONTO 

Zonaon  : 

BURNS    &    GATES,    LIMITED 

NEW  YORK,   CINCINNATI,    CHICAGO  :   BENZIGER    BROTHERS 
I  902 


63684 


fUbtl  obstat: 

J.  CANONICUS  MOVES, 

Censor  deputatus. 

Imprimatur : 

HERBERTUS  CARDINALIS  VAUGHAN, 

Archiep.    Westmonast. 
FEB.  25,  1902. 


All  the   quotations  from  the   Roman   Breviary 
are  taken  from  the  Marquis  of  Bute's  translation. 


The  Publishers  beg  to  express  their  indebtedness 
to  the  Rev.  EMILE  DU  PLERNY,  to  whom  Canon 
Bagshawe,  on  his  death-bed,  entrusted  the  passing 
of  the  proofs  of  this  volume  for  the  press,  and  who 
has  laboured  unremittingly  to  give  effect  to  the  last 
wishes  of  his  friend. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER.  PAGE. 

i.     CHRIST'S  REAL  PRESENCE,  THE  TREASURE 

OF  THE  CHURCH I 

II.   THE   NATURE   AND   METHOD   OF   THIS 

PRESENCE 25 

III.  THE   GIFT   CONVEYED   TO   MAN     .  .         47 

IV.  OUR   GUBST         .  .         7° 
V.       THE   GIFT  AND    HOLY   SCRIPTURE           .  .         94 

VI.       CHRIST   OUR   SACRIFICE  I    THE    HOLY    MASS  .       122 
VII.       DEVOTIONS   TO   THE    BLESSED    SACRAMENT  .       l6o 

VIII.       PENANCE,       THE      SACRAMENT      OF      PURIFI 
CATION  .  .184 

IX.       PENANCE,    THE  SACRAMENT   OF   AMENDMENT 

AND    OF    PERFECTION       .  .  .  .214 


PREFACE. 


THE  late  Canon  Bagshawe  was  a  Priest  for  over 
fifty  years,  some  forty  of  which  were  spent  in  the 
pastoral  care  of  the  mission  of  St.  Elizabeth,  at 
Richmond.  Few  men  have  attached  greater 
importance  to  the  spoken  Word  of  God,  and  it  was 
with  reluctance  that  he  ever  allowed  to  pass  unused 
any  opportunity  that  came  to  him  of  preaching  and 
explaining  the  doctrines  of  the  Catholic  Church. 
Thus  every  Sunday  during  his  long  ministry  it  was 
his  habit  to  preach  three,  or  even  four  times.  His 
words  were  well  prepared,  and  their  arrangement 
carefully  thought  out,  and  he  thus  acquired  a  power 
of  clear  explanation,  which  was  to  serve  him  well 
when  the  moment  came  for  him  to  address  a  wider 
audience.  He  felt  that  he  might  be  of  service  to 
many  souls  by  writing  books  explanatory  of 
Christian  Doctrine,  which  would  help  those  who 
were  still  outside  the  unity  of  the  Church,  and  give 
a  better  understanding  of  their  religion  to  those  who 
were  already  Catholics.  His  earlier  works,  "  The 
Catechism  and  Holy  Scripture,"  "The  Threshold  of 
the  Catholic  Church,"  "The  Credentials  of  the 


x  Preface 

Catholic  Church,"  "  Rosary  Meditations,"  and  "The 
Church,"  as  well  as  "  Catholic  Sermons,"  which 
were  edited  and  for  the  most  part  written  by 
himself,  are  well  known  and  have  been  widely 
appreciated.  The  last  months  of  his  life  were 
given  to  the  preparation  of  the  present  work,  and 
he  passed  to  his  rest  before  he  could  actually  give  it 
to  the  press.  In  "  The  Treasure  of  the  Church,"  he 
explains  at  length,  but  in  a  clear  and  simple  manner, 
the  two  Sacraments  which  are  in  constant  use  among 
the  faithful — the  Sacrament  of  the  most  Holy 
Eucharist  and  the  Sacrament  of  Penance. 

In  this,  the  last  effort  of  his  zeal  and  experience, 
Catholics  will  find  a  ready  means  of  acquainting 
themselves  with  the  place  and  position  which, 
according  to  the  teaching  of  the  Church,  these  two 
great  Sacraments  should  hold  in  their  lives.  They 
will  learn  to  understand  more  of  the  Divine  Liturgy 
which  surrounds  the  Presence  of  Jesus  Christ  in 
the  Blessed  Sacrament,  and  how  better  to  enter  into 
the  spirit  of  that  worship.  They  will  see,  too,  how 
to  profit  by  the  dwelling  of  our  Lord  within  them 
in  Holy  Communion,  and  how  to  avail  themselves 
to  the  full  of  the  cleansing  power  and  the 
strengthening  grace  of  the  Sacrament  of  Penance. 
No  one  can  read  this  book  without  finding  in  it  a 
fresher  knowledge  of  his  Faith,  and  a  consequent 
stimulus  to  live  more  entirely  according  to  its 
teaching. 


Preface.  xi 

Those  who  are  not  Catholics  may  use  this  work 
very  profitably  if  they  wish  to  know  something  of 
the  order,  and  method,  and  reasonableness  of  the 
doctrines  of  the  Catholic  Church.  Want  of  such 
knowledge  is  one  of  the  great  hindrances  to  their 
acceptance  of  Her  claims,  and  we  may  be  sure  that 
the  enlightenment  which  a  treatise  of  this  nature 
conveys,  will  remove  many  an  obstacle  from  the 
path  of  those  who  are  hesitating  in  their  course. 

We  trust,  and  have  great  confidence,  that  this 
book,  like  all  the  others  which  came  from  the  pen  of 
its  lamented  author,  will  in  the  fullest  measure 
realise  the  only  object  which  he  had  in  view,  the 
widespread  knowledge  of  the  teaching  of  the 
Catholic  Church  to  the  salvation  of  many  souls. 

©   FRANCIS, 
Bishop  of  Sonthivark. 

February  2%th,   1902. 


ERRATUM. 

Omit  "of  the  Sacred  Species"  lines  ij  and 

34- 


THE  TREASURE  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


CHAPTER  I. 


CHRIST'S  REAL  PRESENCE  THE  TREASURE   OF 
THE  CHURCH. 

Gives  meaning-  and  vitality  to  her  worship. — Her  one  great 
Devotion. — This  recognised  from  the  beginning. — Her 
one  great  Gift  to  man. — The  "  Mystery  of  Faith." — Test  01 
our  faith  in  the  Incarnation. — God's  universal  Presence. — 
His  occasional  manifestation  of  a  special  Presence. — His 
abiding  Presence  in  the  Incarnation. — "All  days." — The 
Blessed  Sacrament  the  continuation  and  completement  of 
the  Incarnation. 

"  I  am  with  you  all  days,  to  the  consummation  of  the  world." 
— ST.  MATT,  xxviii.  20. 

OUR  Lord  Jesus  Christ  sent  His  apostles  to 
perform  the  most  difficult  work  ever  intrusted  to 
human  beings.  They  were  to  conquer  the 
world  :  they  were  to  overcome  the  deepest  01 
human  prejudices,  and  to  contend  against  all  the 
fiery  passions  of  human  nature.  According  to 
human  ideas,  they  were  most  imperfectly  pro 
vided  for  this  great  work.  They  had  no 
learning,  and  knew  very  little  of  the  ways  of 
men  ;  they  had  no  human  power  or  influence  to 
back  them,  and  they  had  no  money.  Not  only 
had  they  no  money  to  entice  men,  but,  from  the 

2 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 


beginning,  they  had  to  throw  themselves  on  the 
charity  of  their  converts  for  their  daily  food  : 
"  Eat  and  drink  such  things  as  are  set  before 
you  "  (St.  Luke  x.  8).  What  could  appear  a 
more  hopeless  task  than  such  an  undertaking ! 
So  it  was  in  the  eyes  of  men  ;  but,  in  reality, 
they  were  "  needy,  yet  enriching  many  ;  having 
nothing,  and  possessing  all  things  "  (2  Cor.  vi. 
10).  Our  Lord  had  given  them  a  treasure  in 
which  was  comprised  all  riches,  and  which  at 
once  separated  them  by  an  immense  interval 
from  all  other  men.  That  treasure  was  His  own 
perpetual  presence:  "  All  days  to  the  consum 
mation  of  the  world." 

The  Church  which  our  Lord  was  to  establish 
was  to  be  something  new  :  something  which  the 
world  had  never  before  seen. 

In  establishing  it,  our  Lord  was  carrying  out 
the  prophecy  of  Daniel  :  "  In  the  days  of  those 
kingdoms  the  God  of  heaven  will  set  up  a 
kingdom  that  shall  never  be  destroyed"  (Dan.  ii. 
44).  The  power  and  graces  which  He  bestowed 
on  this  new  kingdom  naturally  were  also  new — 
things  which  the  world  had  never  before 
possessed.  He  left  His  own  Presence  to  his 
Church  as  its  especial  endowment,  but  it  was  a 
new  kind  of  Presence — such  as  had  never  before 
been  granted  to  men. 

The  object  of  this  treatise  is  to  explain  the 
nature  of  this  wonderful  Presence,  and  to  dwell 
on  the  duties  which  the  Presence  involves.  In 
the  first  place,  it  is  this  Presence  which  gives  to 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 


the  Catholic  Church  a  power  which  in  the  long 
run  always  brings  victory.  It  gives  a  deep 
meaning  to  almost  everything  we  see  in  the 
Catholic  worship.  You  enter  a  Catholic  church, 
and  this  is  the  one  thing  specially  presented  to 
your  mind.  A  grand  High  Mass  is  going  on. 
the  altar  is  lighted  up,  the  priests  stand  around 
in  their  vestments,  the  people  bow  down  and 
adore.  What  is  the  centre  of  all,  and  the  expla 
nation  of  all?  It  is  the  presence  of  the  true 
Body  and  Blood,  the  Soul  and  the  Divinity  of 
our  Lord  and  God  ;  it  is  Jesus  Christ  Himself 
actually  present,  though  concealed  from  our 
senses,  which  gives  a  meaning  to  all  this. 
Without  this  belief  all  the  forms  and  ceremonies 
which  we  see,  are  but  idle  and  useless  waste  of 
time — but,  with  this  great  doctrine,  all  this 
ceremonial  is  simple  and  intelligible. 

Again,  take  some  occasion  of  rejoicing,  or  of 
lamentation,  and  you  find  the  Blessed  Sacrament 
placed  on  Its  throne,  and  the  people  around  are 
pouring  out  thanks,  or  lamentations  or  suppli 
cations  ; — here  again  this  great  Presence  is  the 
simple  explanation  of  all  you  see.  What  more 
natural  than  that  men  should  crowd  round  their 
Lord  on  such  occasions.  Go  into  the  church 
when  nothing  particular  is  going  on, — still  you 
will  find  worshippers  pouring  out  their  souls  in 
prayer.  Why  should  they  go  to  the  church? 
Simply  because  it  is  the  house  of  God,  and  He 
is  present  there,  in  a  way  in  which  He  is  not 
present  anywhere  else.  The  people  do  not  go 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 


to  the  church  to  hear  men  reading  or  talking ; 
they  go  to  put  themselves  in  immediate  commu 
nication  with  their  Saviour,  to  speak  to  Him 
and  to  listen  to  His  voice  speaking  in  their 
hearts. 

"  He  hath  made  a  remembrance  of  His 
wonderful  works,  being  a  merciful  and  gracious 
Lord.  He  hath  given  food  to  them  that  fear 
Him  "(Ps.  ex.  4). 

Yes,  the  Blessed  Sacrament  is  the  compendium 
of  all  His  wonderful  works,  and  it  is  impossible 
to  be  devoutly  in  the  Presence  of  our  Lord  in 
the  Blessed  Eucharist,  without  entering  at  least 
implicitly  into  all  the  other  mysteries  of  faith. 

The  Blessed  Sacrament  is  the  explanation  of 
nearly  all  we  see  in  the  Catholic  Church,  and, 
still  more,  it  accounts  for  the  wondrous  vitality 
and  constant  victories  of  the  Church. 

Again  and  again  she  has  seemed  to  be  crushed 
by  the  power  of  the  world.  At  the  Reformation, 
the  French  Revolution,  and  many  such  trying 
times,  the  Church  appeared  to  men  to  be  tottering 
to  her  fall ;  but  the  Lord  was  with  her,  and  in 
due  time  made  His  power  felt.  The  Church 
which  had  appeared  so  forlorn  arose  again 
triumphant,  unchanged  in  doctrine  and  dis 
cipline.  Could  she  have  done  this  had  she  not 
possessed  the  one  central,  all-embracing  gift  of 
the  perpetual  Presence  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ? 

The  worship  of  our  Lord  in  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  is  the  one  great  devotion  of  the 


The   Treasure  of  the  Church. 


Church.  Day  after  day,  from  year's  end  to  year's 
end,  the  Church  is  taken  up  with  nothing  else 
than  the  worship  of  God  Incarnate — especially 
in  the  great  Sacrament  in  which  He  is  per 
petually  present. 

It  may  be  said  that  there  are  a  vast  number  of 
other  devotions  which,  to  strangers,  would 
seem  to  take  the  mind  away  from  this  central 
mystery.  All  these  things,  however,  are  but  a 
fringe  which  surrounds  and  does  honour  to  the 
worship  of  Jesus,  God  and  Man. 

His  Blessed  Mother,  the  vast  crowd  of  saints 
commemorated,  are  His  Court,  deriving  all  their 
importance  and  beauty  from  Him,  reflecting  His 
glory,  and  at  the  same  time  bringing  home  to 
us  His  greatness  and  magnificence. 

I  desire  in  these  pages  to  dwell  on  the  attri 
butes  and  qualities  of  this  great  Sacrament  at 
rather  greater  length  than  can  generally  be 
given  to  the  subject  in  books  of  instruction,  and 
to  dwell  on  some  points  connected  with  it  which 
I  think  are  not  always  sufficiently  put  before  the 
faithful.  I  have  spoken  of  the  Blessed  Sacra 
ment  as  the  treasure  of  the  Catholic  Church. 
Without  such  a  treasure,  without  a  great  gift, 
which  the  world  does  not  possess,  how  could  the 
Apostles  hope  to  make  any  impression  on  the 
heathen  world?  This  great  gift  in  which  their 
riches  were  to  consist  was  Christ's  own  personal 
presence.  But  this  presence,  to  produce  any 
great  impression  on  the  world,  must  be  some 
thing  widely  different  from  His  Presence  else- 


6  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

where.  God  is  everywhere.  "In  Him  we  live  and 
move  and  have  our  being"  (Acts  xvii.  28).  "  If 
I  ascend  into  heaven  thou  art  there,  if  I  descend 
into  hell  thou  art  present  "  (Ps.  cxxxviii.  8).  This 
Presence  fills  all  things,  and  is  necessary  even  for 
the  meanest  creature  upon  earth.  When  our  Lord 
promises  His  presence  to  His  Apostles  He  must 
mean  a  kind  of  presence  of  a  very  much  higher 
and  more  personal  order  than  that  which  fills 
creation,  and  this  can  be  nothing  else  than  His 
real  and  substantial  presence  as  God  and  Man  in 
the  Blessed  Sacrament. 

This  was  indeed  the  true  and  sufficient  treasure 
of  the  Church,  which  it  was  to  possess  in  all 
ages,  and  under  all  circumstances.  "And  they 
were  persevering  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Apostles, 
and  in  the  communication  of  the  breaking  of 
bread,  and  in  prayers "  (Acts  ii.  42).  Such 
was  the  life  of  the  Apostles  and  their  followers 
when  the  Christian  faith  was  first  preached.  Let 
us  hear  what  Saint  Proclus  says  in  the  fifth 
century  :  u  After  our  Saviour  was  taken  up 
into  heaven,  the  apostles,  before  being  scattered 
over  the  whole  world,  being  together  in  oneness 
of  mind,  passed  whole  days  in  prayer ;  and 
having  found  the  mystic  sacrifice  of  the  Lord's 
Body  a  great  consolation,  they  sang  it  at  very 
great  length  ;  for  this,  and  teaching,  they  con 
sidered  preferable  to  anything  else.  .  . 
Through  these  prayers,  therefore,  they  expected 
the  advent  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  by  His  own 
Divine  presence  he  might  make  and  render  the 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 


bread  that  lay  there  for  a  sacrifice  and  the  wine 
mixed  with  water,  that  very  same  body  and 
blood  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Which  is  no 
less  done  even  to  this  day,  and  will  be  done  even 
to  the  consummation  of  the  world  "  (Faith  of 
Catholics,  Vol.  ii.  505). 

In  the  course  of  the  fourth  century  these 
prayers  were  embodied  in  the  different  liturgies 
which  have  come  down  to  us.  These,  it  appears, 
were  derived  from  three  great  sources,  which 
were  those  of  Saint  James,  of  Saint  Mark,  and 
the  Roman  Liturgy,  which  was  that  of  Saint 
Peter.  The  antiquity  of  these  liturgies  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that  they  are  still  in  use  amongst  the 
sects  which  separated  themselves  from  the 
Church  in  the  fifth  century. 

Nothing  can  show  the  great  devotion  of  the 
Church  to  the  Holy  Eucharist  in  a  more  striking 
manner  than  these  various  liturgies.  They 
differ  in  language,  and  in  ceremonies,  as  widely 
as  possible,  and  yet  they  agree  in  all  essential 
points,  as  well  as  in  their  tone  of  fervour  and 
devotion. 

We  may  well  say,  then,  that  the  Holy  Eucharist 
was  recognised  by  the  Church  as  its  principal 
treasure  from  the  beginning.  When  times  of 
persecution  came,  the  Church  carried  its  treasure 
with  it  into  the  catacombs,  and  continued  to  offer 
sacrifice  under  ground.  We  read  how  the  Mass 
was  celebrated  on  the  tombs  of  the  martyrs,  and 
the  present  law  of  the  Church  that  Mass  can  only 
be  said  on  stone  altars  containing  relics  of  the 


8  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

martyrs,   seems  to  be  a  remembrance   of  those 
days. 

When  persecution  had  passed  away,  the  first 
care  of  the  Church  was  to  provide  fitting  shrines 
for  her  most  sacred  treasure,  and  soon  the  land 
was  covered  with  beautiful  churches.  Look  at 
the  glorious  cathedrals  and  beautiful  parish 
churches  which  are  to  be  found  everywhere  in 
our  own  land.  Why  were  they  made  so  beau 
tiful  ?  Why  was  such  a  wealth  of  decoration 
lavished  upon  them?  Not  to  be  meeting  houses 
of  men — but  to  be  the  house  of  God,  and  the 
shrine  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament. 

This  was  a  treasure  which  no  man  could  take 
from  them.  Men  could,  and  did,  destroy  those 
temples  and  desecrate  those  altars  and  call  it  a 
crime  to  celebrate  the  Holy  Sacrifice,  and  our 
Lord  once  more  went  down  into  the  catacombs. 
Priests,  in  hiding  and  at  the  risk  of  their  lives, 
continued  to  offer  the  Holy  Mass,  and  to  give  to 
themselves  and  their  flocks  the  great  treasure 
which  our  Lord  had  left  them  as  their  inherit 
ance.  And  so,  to-day,  every  missionary  carries 
with  him  this  same  treasure.  He  goes  out, 
perhaps,  to  a  foreign  land,  as  the  Apostles  did, 
without  "  scrip  or  staff,"  exposing  himself  to 
every  danger,  and  he  carries  with  him  nothing 
but  the  few  things  required  for  celebrating  mass. 
He  is  rich,  however,  because  his  Lord  is  always 
with  him  :  each  day  he  can  celebrate  the  Holy 
Sacrifice  and  the  Lord  comes  down  upon  the 
altar  to  be  his  own  food  and  solace,  and  to  be 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 


the  great  gift  which  he  can  bestow  upon  his 
converts. 

The  Blessed  Sacrament  is  the  treasure  of  the 
Church,  and  also  the  treasure  of  every  individual 
soul.  The  Church  does  not  come  to  men  empty 
handed.  She  has  something  to  give  which  men 
cannot  give,  and  that  is  a  close  and  personal 
participation  of  the  Divine  Nature,  in  an 
infinitely  higher  way  than  is  to  be  found  in  the 
rest  of  the  creation. 

If  the  Catholic  Church  could  not  do  this,  how 
could  she  call  herself  a  church  in  any  reasonable 
sense?  If  she  came  to  men  and  said  to  them  : 
"  I  have  nothing  to  give  you  but  the  words  of 
men  ;  I  have  nothing  to  bestow  on  you  but  what 
you  have  already.  I  can  pray  and  preach — and 
so  can  anyone  else.  I  do  not  profess  to  give 
you  any  great  supernatural  gift — God  is  present 
in  my  churches  exactly  as  He  is  in  your  own 
houses,  and  fields,  and  in  no  other  way.  I  have 
nothing  supernatural  to  give  you — nothing  but 
the  words  of  men — or,  at  any  rate,  those  Holy 
Scriptures  which  you  can  read  and  interpret  just 
as  well  as  I  can." 

If  the  Catholic  Church  had  come  to  men 
professing  nothing  but  this,  would  the  world 
have  paid  any  attention  to  her  message  ?  Would 
it  have  been  reasonable  that  it  should  do  so? 
No.  It  was  because  the  Church  had  a  treasure 
to  bestow,  which  the  world  could  not  give,  that 
men  attended  to  her,  and  acknowledged  her 
authority — and  that  treasure  was  the  real 


io  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

presence  of  our  Lord,  and  the  other  sacramental 
graces  so  closely  connected  with  that  presence. 

Our  Lord,  God  and  Man,  is  the  treasure  ot 
the  Catholic  Church  and  of  every  individual 
soul :  where  our  treasure  is,  there  also  our 
hearts  ought  to  be.  "  If  thou  didst  know  the 
gift  of  God,  and  who  it  is  that  saith  to  thee,  Give 
me  to  drink,  thou  wouldst  perhaps  have  asked 
him,  and  he  would  have  given  thee  living 
water"  (St.  John  iv.  io).  Our  Lord  is 
Himself  the  great  fountain  supplying  the  needs 
of  His  Church.  Why  do  we  not  hurry  to  "  draw 
waters  with  joy  out  of  the  Saviour's  fountains" 
(Isa.  xii.  3).  Our  Lord  remains  always  in  the 
midst  of  us  because  His  delight  is  to  be  with  the 
children  of  men  ;  should  we  not  say  with  the 
Psalmist — "What  have  I  in  heaven,  and  beside 
thee  what  do  I  desire  upon  earth?  For  thee  my 
flesh  and  my  heart  hath  fainted  away ;  thou 
art  the  God  of  my  heart,  and  the  God  that  is 
my  portion  for  ever  "  (Ps.  Ixxii.  25,  26). 

The  Blessed  Sacrament  is  surrounded  by 
mysteries.  It  is  most  wonderful  that  the  Lord 
of  glory  should  come  down  on  the  altar ;  the 
manner  of  His  coming  is  a  daily  repeated 
wonder ;  the  miraculous  condition  in  which  He 
is  sacramentally  present  is  a  wonder — and  His 
presence  in  a  thousand  different  places  at  the 
same  moment  is  perhaps  the  most  sublime 
wonder  of  all. 

Our  Lord  surrounds  Himself  in  the  Holy 
Eucharist  with  wonders  of  power  and  of  loving 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  n 

humility.  The  perpetual  miracle  of  Transub- 
stantiation  and  the  constant  multiplication  of 
heavenly  bread  which  He  gives  us  are  indeed 
wonders  of  power  ;  but  the  wonders  of  humility 
and  love  seem  almost  more  wonderful  still.  To 
think  that  God  should  hide  Himself  under  the 
most  insignificant  of  species — that  He  should 
take  the  shape  of  mere  bread  and  wine  is  indeed 
wonderful ;  that  He  should  put  Himself  com 
pletely  at  the  disposal  of  His  creatures  as  if  He 
had  no  will  of  His  own,  is  more  wonderful 
still.  Yet  so  it  is.  His  coming  down  on  the 
altar  and  remaining  there  is  simply  at  the  dis 
cretion  of  poor  sinful  priests — and  whilst  He  is 
here,  He  is  completely  the  servant  of  His 
people.  He  is  at  the  command  of  the  poorest, 
always  ready  to  receive  them  ;  He  allows 
Himself  to  be  carried  to  the  sick  at  all  hours  of 
the  day  and  night,  of  whatever  sort  they  may 
be.  They  may  have  been  good  or  bad,  saints 
or  hardened  sinners,  it  makes  no  difference  :  our 
Lord  is  ready  to  visit  all  and  bestow  on  them  the 
comfort  and  support  of  His  Sacramental 
Presence. 

The  Blessed  Sacrament  is  called,  and  may 
well  be  called,  "The  mystery  of  Faith."  It  is 
the  mystery  of  Faith,  because  It  is  surrounded 
with  wonders  which  need  our  faith,  and  also 
because  It  is  the  food  of  faith.  No  one  can 
receive  the  Holy  Eucharist  as  he  ought  to  receive 
It  without  being  constantly  strengthened  in  his 
faith.  But  we  may  add  another  reason  for  this 


12  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 


name,  and  say  it  is  the  mystery  of  faith  because 
it  is  the  test  of  faith,  particularly  in  two  things  : 
in  the  Incarnation,  and  in  the  authority  of  the 
Catholic  Church.  It  is  on  this  point  on  which  I 
wish  to  dwell  in  this  chapter. 

We  have  seen  with  what  wonders  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  is  surrounded.  Why  should  God 
have  worked  all  these  miracles?  Why  should  He 
have  come  amongst  men,  and  why  should  He 
have  come  in  so  wonderful  a  way  ?  The  answer  is 
a  simple  one.  It  is  because  the  Blessed  Sacra 
ment  is  the  carrying  on,  the  completion,  the 
complement  of  His  Incarnation,  and  so  was 
naturally  surrounded  by  miracles  of  power  and 
love  analogous  to  those  which  surrounded  His 
first  coming  upon  earth. 

Now  what  do  we  mean  by  the  Incarnation  ? 
We  mean  that  God  became  man  ;  that  He  took 
to  Himself  a  perfect  human  nature,  body  and 
soul,  so  as  to  be  henceforth  and  for  evermore 
God  and  man  : — God  walking  on  this  earth  ; 
man  reigning  in  heaven.  And  why  did  God 
do  this  wonderful  thing? 

We  have  indeed  no  right  to  ask  why  it  pleases 
God  to  act  in  any  way,  as  if  we  pretended  to 
pass  judgment  on  Him.  People  sometimes  say 
in  a  cavilling  spirit  :  "  Why  does  God  do  this? 
Why  does  His  Providence  allow  that?"  and  so 
forth.  A  Christian,  of  course,  answers,  "  I  do 
not  pretend  to  understand  the  reasons,  the 
objects,  the  consequences  of  what  God  does." 
— "  For  who  shall  say  to  thee,  Why  hast  thou 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  13 

done  this?"  (Wisd.  xii.i2).  "  For  as  the  heavens 
are  exalted  above  the  earth,  so  are  My  ways 
exalted  above  your  ways,  and  My  thoughts 
above  your  thoughts,  saith  the  Lord "  (Isaias 
IV.Q).  If  we  could  gauge,  understand,  and 
reckon  up  His  dealings,  He  would  not  be  our 
Creator  and  our  God  ;  He  would  be  one  like 
ourselves.  We  find  it  hard  enough  to  under 
stand  the  ways  of  our  equals  ;  how  absurd  to 
suppose  we  can  comprehend  the  thoughts,  the 
dealings  of  the  Infinite  Creator  of  all  things. 

We  may,  however,  try  humbly  to  understand 
His  dealings  with  us — since  He  has  deigned  to 
make  us  to  His  own  image  and  likeness,  and 
to  bestow  upon  us  faculties  which  are  a  faint 
reflection  of  His  own  infinite  Intelligence. 

Why  then  did  He  become  incarnate?  Because 
we  needed  His  Presence.  By  His  own  nature 
God  is  infinitely  removed  from  His  creatures. 
No  creature,  however  great,  can  come  near  to 
the  Creator.  There  is  an  infinite  and  impassable 
abyss  which  separates  the  Creator  from  His 
creatures.  Imagine  to  yourself  all  the  excellences 
and  powers  and  faculties  of  creatures,  a  thousand 
times  multiplied,  and  they  come  no  nearer  to 
Him.  "  Alps  on  Alps  arise."  You  ascend  a 
lofty  mountain,  and  one  peak  arises  above 
another  till  they  seem  to  touch  the  clouds — 
yet,  when  you  have  reached  the  highest,  you 
are,  just  as  far  off  the  sun  as  when  you  stood  in 
the  plain.  So,  in  a  truer  sense,  when  you  have 
exalted  creatures  to  the  utmost  bounds  of  your 


14  The  Treasure  of  the  Church 

imagination,  they  are  no  nearer  to  the  great 
Creator,  than  the  meanest  thing  on  earth. 

What  creatures  could  not  do,  the  Creator 
deigned  Himself  to  accomplish.  They  could 
not  come  near  to  Him,  so,  in  His  tender  love 
for  them,  He  Himself  passed  over  that  infinite 
gulf,  and  came  down  to  them.  He  chose  to 
take  a  place  in  His  own  creation,  to  be,  in  a 
sense,  a  creature  like  them,  and  to  put  Himself 
on  their  level. 

This  is  the  great  work  of  the  Incarnation.  Its 
first  idea  is  that  of  "  Emmanuel "  (God  with  us) : 
"  And  they  shall  call  His  name  Emmanuel  " 
(St  Matt.  i.  23). 

The  great  work  of  God  made  man  for  us  poor 
sinners  is,  without  doubt,  the  work  of  our 
Redemption  :  He  came  to  redeem  us  with  His 
Precious  Blood  ; — but  still,  the  primary  idea  of 
the  Incarnation  is  God  with  us  :  that  the  Creator 
deigned  to  take  a  place  in  His  creation  and  to 
put  Himself  on  a  level  with  His  creatures  that 
He  might  communicate  Himself  to  them. 

In  His  infinite  \visdom,  He  saw  that  such  a 
communion  with  the  Creator  was  necessary,  in 
a  sense,  for  His  intelligent  creatures.  They 
had  been  made  to  His  image,  and  so  made  sons 
of  God,  and  by  that  sonship  they  required  a 
special  communication  with  His  Godhead  in  a 
way  not  given  to  the  rest  of  creation.  "  Do  not 
become  like  the  horse  and  the  mule,  which  have 
no  understanding.  With  bit  and  bridle  bind 
fast  their  jaws,  who  come  not  near  unto  thee  " 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  15 

(Ps.  xxxi.  9).  The  horse  and  mule  do  not  need  to 
come  near  to  their  Creator,  but  man  must  do  so, 
if  he  is  to  attain  the  state  for  which  he  was 
intended.  The  Creator  therefore  came  down  on 
earth,  and  took  our  shape,  our  nature,  our 
weakness,  that  He  might  "give  to  us  to  be 
partakers  of  His  Divinity  "  (cf.  2  Pet.  i.  4). 

But,  we  may  say,  Is  not  God  everywhere  ?  Is 
He  not  everywhere  fully  and  completely  with 
His  Divine  essence — with  His  infinite  power 
and  wisdom  and  love?  Does  not  the  Psalm  I 
have  before  quoted  say  :  "  If  I  ascend  into 
heaven  thou  art  there  ;  if  I  descend  into  hell, 
thou  art  present"?  (Ps.  cxxxviii.  8).  Yes,  God 
is  everywhere  in  the  fullest  conceivable  manner. 
"  In  Him  we  live  and  move,  and  have  our 
being  "  (Acts  xvii.  28).  In  every  blade  of  grass, 
in  every  leaf  that  hangs  on  the  tree,  in  every 
insect  that  flits  about  in  the  summer  sunshine, 
there  is  the  great  Creator,  "upholding  all 
things  by  the  word  of  His  power  "  (Heb.  i.  3). 
His  presence  is  necessary  that  created  things 
may  exist :  "  If  thou  turnest  away  thy  face  they 
shall  be  troubled  ;  thou  shalt  take  away  their 
breath,  and  they  shall  fail,  and  shall  return  to 
their  dust  "  (Ps.  ciii.  29). 

But,  besides  this  universal  presence  of  God, 
there  is  a  special  presence,  entirely  different  in 
character,  and  far  fuller  and  closer  and  more 
personal.  How  this  can  be,  is  a  mystery  to  us  : 
we  are  unable  to  understand  how  He  can  be 
present  perfectly  in  every  place — and  yet  be 


16  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

more  fully  in  some  places  than  in  others.  But 
it  certainly  is  so.  In  some  places  and  at  some 
times,  He  discloses  Himself  much  more  fully 
and  personally  than  at  others — and  He  demands 
suitable  recognition  of  that  presence.  For 
instance  we  are  told  that  God  walked  with 
Adam  and  Eve  in  the  garden  of  Paradise  at 
certain  times.  He  was  there  in  a  totally  differ 
ent  sense  from  that  in  which  He  filled  the 
Universe.  So,  again,  God  spoke  to  Moses 
from  the  burning  bush,  and  said  to  him  :  "  Come 
not  nigh  hither,  put  off  the  shoes  from  thy  feet ; 
for  the  place  whereon  thou  standest  is  holy 
ground  .  .  .  Moses  hid  his  face,  for  he  durst 
not  look  at  God"  (Exod.  iii.  5,  6).  And  so,  again, 
Moses  on  Mount  Sinai  was  in  a  special  sense  in 
the  presence  of  God,  so  that  when  he  came  down 
from  the  mountain  the  children  of  Israel  were 
afraid  to  come  near  for  the  glory  of  His  face. 
Throughout  the  Old  Testament,  Almighty  God 
established  a  special  presence  of  Himself  on  His 
mercy  seat,  over  the  wings  of  the  Cherubim. 
"  Thence  will  I  give  orders  and  will  speak  to 
thee  over  the  propitiatory,  and  from  the  midst 
of  the  two  Cherubim  which  shall  be  upon  the 
ark  of  the  testimony  "  (Exod.  xxv.  22).  In  all 
these  instances  there  was  clearly  a  very  special 
presence,  which  admitted  men  to  much  closer 
intercourse  with  their  Creator  than  elsewhere, 
and  demanded  from  them  a  corresponding 
acknowledgment  and  proportionate  reverence. 
"  I  will  speak  to  my  Lord,  whereas  I  am  dust 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 


and  ashes  "  (Gen.  xviii.  27).  Such  was  the  tone 
of  the  patriarch  when  admitted  to  such  a  face-to- 
face  communication  with  God. 

All  these  appearances,  however  wonderful  as 
they  were,  were  but  foreshadowings  of  that  true 
special  presence  by  which  the  Creator  was  to 
show  Himself  to  man  in  the  Incarnation.  They 
were  only  special  manifestations  of  that  general 
Presence  which  filled  the  Universe,  but  this 
was  a  really  new  and  unheard  of  communication 
of  God  to  man  ;  in  it  the  great  God  took  to 
Himself  a  created  nature,  and  walked  with  man 
on  earth,  and  so  opened  to  him  the  treasure  of 
His  Divinity. 

"  The  Word  was  made  flesh,  and  dwelt  amongst 
us."  (St.  John.  i.  14.)  This  was  not  to  be  a 
passing  manifestation  of  Himself,  as  many 
visions  had  been.  He  came  to  stay  amongst 
men,  to  dwell  with  them,  and  make  His  home 
amongst  them.  His  home  was  first  in  the 
stable  of  Bethlehem,  and  then  in  the  holy  house 
of  Nazareth.  During  His  ministry,  His  home 
is  still  in  the  midst  of  His  people  :  though  "  the 
foxes  have  holes  and  the  birds  of  the  air  nests, 
but  the  Son  of  man  hath  not  where  to  lay 
His  head"  (St.  Matt.  viii.  20).  When  the 
end  came  again  He  dwelt  with  us.  May  we 
not  say  that  when  He  was  laid  in  the  grave, 
He  shared  with  us  that  last  home  of  our 
mortality  ! 

Yes,  the  Lord  came  to  dwell  with  His  people, 
to  cheer  and  support  them  during  this  mortal 

3 


i8  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

life,    and   to   help   them   to   gain    their    eternal 
salvation. 

But,  if  God  came  down  to  be  with  men,  and 
to  communicate  Himself  to  them  ;  if  the  primary 
idea  of  the  Incarnation  is  Emmanuel — God  with 
us  ;  may  we  not  say  that  if  the  Incarnation 
stands  by  itself  His  work  seems  incomplete? 
He  came  on  earth  indeed,  but  He  remained  for 
a  very  few  years  and  then  returned  to  His  glory. 
He  was  seen  only  in  one  very  remote  country, 
far  from  the  great  centres  of  human  habitation. 
How  were  all  the  future  ages  of  the  world  to 
profit  by  His  coming?  How  were  distant  lands 
to  benefit  by  His  Presence?  What  special 
blessing  is  it  to  me^  as  far  as  His  presence 
is  concerned,  that  God  came  down  two 
thousand  years  ago,  and  presently  went  away 
again?  God  was  upon  earth,  but  He  lived  a 
thousand  miles  away,  how  can  I  profit  by  His 
presence  ? 

Yes,  it  seems  to  us,  if  we  dare  say  so  with 
reverence,  that  the  work  was  incomplete.  What 
God  intended  to  do  in  His  Incarnation  was,  in 
part,  left  undone.  But  the  moment  we  under 
stand  the  mystery  of  Our  Lord's  real  presence 
in  the  Holy  Eucharist,  this  incompleteness 
vanishes,  and  we  are  able  to  see  what  seems 
to  us  a  perfect  work.  "  I  am  with  you  all  days, 
even  to  the  consummation  of  the  world  "  (St.  Matt, 
xxviii.  20).  These  were  our  Lord's  last  words 
to  His  disciples,  and  most  effectually  did 
He  carry  out  His  promise.  He  removed, 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  19 

indeed,  from  them  and  us  His  visible  presence, 
but  He  instituted  a  Sacrament  by  which  His 
essential  and  real  presence  should  always 
remain.  They  were  no  longer,  indeed,  to  see 
His  face  or  hear  His  voice,  but  that  special 
presence  of  the  Godhead,  which  it  was  the 
object  of  the  Incarnation  to  bring  upon 
earth,  was  continued  to  men  till  the  end  of 
time.  It  can  no  longer  be  said  that  the 
Almighty  gave  us  Himself,  and  then  withdrew 
His  gift.  For  two  thousand  years  His  Presence 
has  been  with  men,  and  generation  after  genera 
tion  has  rejoiced  in  it.  It  can  no  longer  be 
said  that  this  Presence  is  confined  to  a  remote 
corner  of  the  earth,  because  by  this  Sacrament 
He  lives  at  once  in  all  parts  of  the  globe. 

"  Emmanuel,  God  with  us":  that  was  the 
great  gift  bestowed  by  the  Incarnation — and 
brought  home  to  each  individual  by  the  real 
presence  of  Our  Lord  in  the  Holy  Sacrament 
of  the  altar. 

May  we  not  say,  with  perfect  truth,  that  the 
Real  Presence  makes  the  doctrine  of  the  In 
carnation  infinitely  easier  to  understand?  These 
two  mysteries  taken  together,  give  us  the 
grandest  and  most  sublime  idea  that  we  can 
conceive  of  the  dealings  of  God  with  His 
creatures.  Wonderful  to  think  that,  in  this 
great  Sacrament,  He  should  have  brought  His 
Incarnation  home  to  us  in  all  ages  and  in  all 
places.  He  gives  Himself  to  all  without  dis 
tinction,  to  rich  and  poor,  to  young  and  old  ;  to 


20  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

the  child  just  beginning  life,  and  to  the  poor 
sinner  about  to  depart  on  his  last  journey,  as 
well  as  to  be  the  daily  food  of  His  priests  to 
enable  them  to  carry  out  the  great  ministry 
entrusted  to  them. 

We  may  well  say,  with  St.  John  Chrysostom, 
"  Where  is  the  shepherd  which  feedeth  His 
flock  with  His  own  blood?  Nay,  why  should 
I  say  shepherd  ?  Many  mothers  there  are,  who 
after  all  the  pains  of  travail  give  their  little  ones 
to  strangers  to  nurse.  But  so  would  not  He, 
but  feedeth  us  with  His  own  Blood,  and  maketh 
us  to  grow  up  in  His  own  substance."  (6th 
lesson,  Sunday,  oct.  of  Corpus  Christi.  Marquis 
of  Bute's  translation.) 

"  Feedeth  us  with  His  own  Blood  "  :  strange 
this  seems  to  those  who  have  not  thought  of 
the  glorified  and  supernatural  condition  of  that 
Body  and  Blood.  "  How  can  this  man  give  us 
His  flesh  to  eat  "  (St.  John  vi.  53),  they  would  say 
with  the  men  of  Capharnaum,  not  understanding 
that  they  are  receiving  their  living  Lord,  whole 
and  glorified.  He  has  chosen  this  means  of  com 
municating  Himself  to  men,  because  it  is  the 
closest  and  most  intimate  way  of  union  possible. 
By  this  He  comes  home  to  each  individually, 
makes  Himself  the  property  of  each,  and  makes 
each  one  a  sharer  of  His  Incarnation  to  a  degree 
which  would  be  inconceivable  in  any  other  way. 

The  Blessed  Sacrament  is,  as  I  said,  called 
the  Sacrament  of  Faith,  and  it  may  well  be 
called  so,  because  it  is  especially  the  test  of 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church,  21 

our  faith  in  the  Incarnation.  If  people  do  not 
believe  in  the  Incarnation,  or  have  never  realised 
what  it  means,  the  real  presence  of  our  Lord 
in  the  Holy  Eucharist  is  obviously  an  impossi 
bility  ;  we  might  almost  say  an  absurdity.  If 
our  Lord  was  not  truly  God  and  Man — that  is, 
if  Almighty  God  never  came  on  earth — how  can 
there  be  any  such  presence  in  the  Eucharist? 
On  the  other  hand,  if  you  really  believe  that 
God  was  incarnate,  and  was  visibly  present  in 
the  stable  of  Bethlehem,  and  hanging  on  the 
cross,  there  is  no  great  difficulty  in  also  believing 
that  He  is  still  continuing  the  same  presence 
in  the  Holy  Eucharist. 

So  far  from  being  a  difficulty,  the  two  mys 
teries  illustrate  one  another.  The  Blessed 
Sacrament  as  the  completion  of  the  Incarnation 
throws  a  flood  of  light  on  the  original  mystery. 
It  is  mysterious  and  wonderful  indeed,  but  it 
gives  us  a  much  more  intelligible  view  of  God's 
merciful  dealings  with  His  people  than  can  be 
obtained  in  any  other  way. 

People  may  say,  indeed,  that  the  Holy  Euchar 
ist  is  surrounded  with  wonders  ;  that  it  is  full 
of  mysteries  difficult  for  the  human  mind  to 
conceive.  How  could  it  be  the  continuation  of 
our  Lord's  Incarnation,  and  not  be  mysterious? 
God's  coming  upon  earth  was  the  greatest  of  all 
wonders,  and  the  perpetuation  of  the  presence 
cannot  be  otherwise  than  mysterious.  We  shall 
find,  however,  that  the  mysteries  of  the  one  are 
extremely  analogous  to  those  of  the  other ; 


22  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

indeed,    we    may   say   that   the    same   wonders 
occur,  only  varied  by  circumstances. 

Let  us  go  a  little  more  fully  into  this  interest 
ing  point.  Now,  first,  let  us  ask  what  is  the 
thing  that  most  strikes  the  imagination  when 
considering  our  Lord's  Incarnation.  Look  at 
Jesus  in  the  stable,  God  and  Man.  In  Him  is 
concentrated  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead.  That 
Divinity  which  is  immense,  boundless,  beyond 
all  human  calculation,  is,  as  it  were,  localized, 
confined  to  that  poor  grotto.  The  presence 
which  is  everywhere  in  its  fulness,  which  is 
essential  to  the  existence  of  this  vast  creation, 
is  to  be  found  wholly  and  fully  present  in  a 
personal  way  in  the  form  of  that  sacred  Infant. 
He  Who  had  no  beginning ;  Who  by  the 
necessity  of  His  Being  was  from  eternity,  never 
theless  was  on  Christmas  night  a  newly-born 
Infant.  "  Omnipotence  in  bonds."  He  to  whom 
all  things  belonged,  was  dependent  on  His 
creatures.  These  are  the  most  striking  of  the 
wonders  of  the  Incarnation.  Do  they  not  con 
found  our  ideas  of  time  and  space?  Do  they  not 
bring  home  to  us  how  little  we  really  know  of 
these  things  of  which  we  talk  so  glibly?  I  may 
venture,  perhaps,  to  quote  a  few  lines  from 
Cardinal  Newman  which  seem  to  bear  on  this. 
In  the  Dream  of  Gerontius,  the  angel  addressing 
the  departed  soul  speaks  thus  : 

"  Thou  livest  in  a  world  of  signs  and  types, 
The  presentations  of  most  holy  truths, 
Living  and  strong1,  which  now  encompass  thee  ; 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  23 

And  thou  art  wrapped  and  swathed  around  in  dreams, 

Dreams  that  are  true  yet  enigmatical     .     .     . 

And  thus  thou  tell'st  of  space  and  time  and  size, 

As — (let  me  use  similitude  of  earth 

To  aid  thee  in  the  knowledge  thou  dost  ask) — 

As  ice  which  blisters  may  be  said  to  burn." 

We  experience  certain  effects,  and  form  ideas 
about  things  for  ourselves,  but,  as  to  what  the 
things  are  in  themselves,  as  to  their  real  causes, 
or  their  manner  of  existing  we  are  quite  ignorant. 

This  central  wonder,  that  God  is  present  per 
sonally  in  a  distinct,  visible  form,  is  also  the 
special  marvel  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament.  You 
see  the  Sacred  Host,  how  is  it  possible  that  in 
that  small  compass  can  be  contained  the  Infinite 
Godhead?  It  is  in  one  sense  a  greater  marvel 
than  the  Incarnation,  since  this  Godhead  is 
visible  in  this  veiled  manner  in  a  thousand  places. 

Yes,  but  it  is,  in  a  sense,  less  marvellous, 
because  His  manner  of  existence  and  manner  of 
action  is  entirely  hidden  from  us — whereas  during 
His  mortal  life,  we  have  the  Divine  Word, 
acting,  speaking  and  suffering  like  ourselves. 

Again  the  marvel  of  the  Incarnation  is  the 
way  in  which  God  became  man. 

"While  all  things  were  in  quiet  silence  and 
night  was  in  the  midst  of  her  swift  course, 
Thine  Almighty  Word,  O  God,  leaped  down 
from  Heaven  out  of  Thy  Royal  Throne " 
(cf.  Wisdom  xviii.  15).  "He  came  unto  His 
own,  and  His  own  received  Him  not"  (St.  John 
i.  11).  The  world  went  on  its  way,  and  knew 


24  The  Treasure  oj  the  Church. 

not  at  all  of  the  great  thing  that  had  come  to  pass 
in  the  midst  of  it.  This  same  wonder  meets  us 
every  moment  in  the  Blessed  Sacrament.  Go  into 
a  quiet  church  where  a  few  worshippers  are 
round  the  altar  as  the  Mass  is  said,  far  from  the 
bustling  world  ; — there  again  the  Lord  of  Glory 
comes  down  into  the  midst  of  them.  His 
coming  is  as  silent  and  unknown  as  when  on 
Christmas  night  He  was  born  into  the  world. 
Again,  it  is  more  wonderful,  because  happening 
in  a  thousand  places, — but  less  wonderful  in  as 
far  as  there  is  so  little  externally  to  strike  the 
senses. 

We  may  well  say,  then,  that  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  is  the  continuation  and  complement 
of  the  Incarnation.  God  has  given  us  this 
wonderful  Sacrament  to  carry  out  the  ends  for 
which  He  became  Incarnate,  and  His  presence 
in  the  Blessed  Sacrament  is  surrounded  by 
wonders  and  difficulties  which  correspond 
exactly  with  the  wonders  and  difficulties  of  the 
Incarnation. 


CHAPTER  II. 


NATURE   AND   METHOD   OF   THIS    PRESENCE. 

The  Substance. — Christ  verily  and  indeed. — The  Hypostatic 
Union.  —  His  supernatural  and  glorified  state.  —  The 
Accidents. — What  our  senses  perceive. — Our  inference 
at  fault. — Transubstantiation. — St.  Thomas  Aquinas. — 
Real  Presence  and  Transubstantiation  two  distinct  ques 
tions. —  Canterbury  and  York. — Development  of  dogmatic 
expression. — W.  H.  Mallock. — Mystery  of  faith,  not  o 
sig-ht. 

IN  the  last  chapter  I  was  speaking  of  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  generally,  and  I  tried  to  take  a  broad 
and  extensive  view  of  the  pre-eminent  position 
which  this  Sacrament  holds  in  the  Catholic 
Church. 

It  is  the  means  by  which  Our  Lord  makes 
His  Incarnation  present  in  every  age,  and  brings 
the  benefits  of  it  home  to  each  generation.  It 
is  the  treasure  of  the  Catholic  Church  and  also 
of  each  individual  soul. 

We  may  even  say  that  the  Church  itself  was 
established  upon  earth  in  order  to  be  the 
Guardian  of  this  Great  Sacrament,  and  to  enable 
the  faithful  to  receive  it  as  they  ought. 


26  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

I  must  now  go  on,  however,  to  consider  more 
carefully  the  details  of  the  Sacrament  of  the 
Holy  Eucharist,  and  for  this  purpose  I  take  the 
words  of  the  catechism  which  is  taught  to  all 
our  children. 

The  catechism  says:  "The  Sacrament  of 
the  Holy  Eucharist  is  the  true  Body  and  Blood 
of  Jesus  Christ,  together  with  His  Soul  and 
Divinity,  under  the  appearances  of  bread  and 
wine."  The  word  "true"  is  here  used  because 
the  first  thing  is  to  establish,  beyond  the  possi 
bility  of  doubt,  the  reality  of  our  Lord's 
presence  :  that  He  is  present  "  verily  and  indeed." 
Outside  the  Catholic  Church  the  opinions  of 
men  about  our  Lord's  presence  are  very  vague, 
and  no  power  on  earth  except  the  Catholic  Church 
dares  to  give  a  clear  and  authoritative  decision 
on  the  subject.  You  hear  people  talk  of  a  figur 
ative  presence  ;  or  they  say  that  our  Lord  is 
present  in  the  Blessed  Sacrament  "spiritually" 
and  not  "carnally";  He  that  is  received  by 
Faith  ;  and  so  forth. 

The  catechism  begins  therefore  by  telling  us 
that  it  is  the  "true  Body  and  Blood  of  Jesus 
Christ."  It  is  not  any  mere  representation— 
called  the  Body  of  Christ,  as  a  picture  or  a  statue 
might,  in  a  sense,  be  so  called.  You  might,  for 
instance,  speak  of  the  Body  of  our  Lord  on  the 
cross,  when  you  were  describing  a  crucifix  ; — but 
here  is  the  true  Body  ; — not  a  new  Incarnation, 
but  that  very  same  Body  which  was  crucified 
for  us. 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  27 

"  Ave,  verum  corpus  natum 
De  Maria  Virgine  ; 
Vere  passum,  immolatum 
In  cruce  pro  homine  : 
Cujus  latus  perforatum 
Unda  fluxit  cum  sanguine." 

"Hail,  true  Body,  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary, 
which  truly  suffered  and  was  immolated  on  the 
cross  :  from  Whose  pierced  side  the  tide  of  Blood 
and  Water  came  forth." 

"  His  soul  and  His  Divinity."  We  here  come 
to  the  crucial  point  of  the  whole  doctrine,  and 
have  brought  before  as  most  fully  the  doctrine  of 
the  "  Hypostatic  Union."  Almighty  God  took  to 
Himself  our  human  nature  in  so  perfect  a 
manner  that  His  two  natures  could  not  possibly 
be  separated.  The  Athanasian  Creed  says  that 
our  Lord  was  "  Perfect  God,  and  perfect  man, 
subsisting  of  a  reasonable  soul  and  human  flesh. 
Equal  to  the  Father  according  to  His  Godhead, 
and  less  than  the  Father  according  to  His 
manhood.  Who  although  He  be  both  God  and 
Man,  yet  He  is  not  two,  but  one  Christ.  One, 
not  by  the  conversion  of  the  Godhead  into  flesh, 
but  by  the  taking  of  the  manhood  unto  God.  One 
altogether  not  by  confusion  of  substance,  but  by 
unity  of  person.  For  as  the  rational  soul  and 
the  flesh  is  one  man,  so  God  and  man  is  one 
Christ." 

The  Holy  Sacrament  brings  this  Hypostatic 
Union  most  distinctly  before  you.  You  receive 
the  Blessed  Sacrament  under  both  kinds  or 


28  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

under  either  kind — but  in  all  cases  you  receive 
our  Lord,  wholly  and  entirely,  in  His  Divine 
and  human  nature,  and  you  cannot  possibly 
receive  more.  If  you  do  not  believe  this,  you 
have  no  real  belief  at  all  in  the  Presence  of  our 
Lord  in  the  Holy  Sacrament. 

It  was  for  this  reason  that,  in  the  middle  ages, 
the  Church  was  so  stern  in  refusing  the  "  Utra- 
quist  party  "  permission  to  receive  Communion 
under  both  forms.  It  was  not  merely  a  question 
of  discipline,  because  it  soon  became  evident 
that  the  desire  to  receive  in  that  way  arose  from 
an  imperfect  and  erroneous  belief  as  to  the 
doctrine  taught  by  the  Church. 

We  receive  that  very  Body  which  suffered  for 
us  ;  but  in  what  condition,  and  in  what  state  of 
existence  is  that  Sacred  Body?  "  How  can  this 
man  give  us  his  flesh  to  eat?"  (St.  John  vi.  53). 
This  was  the  question  put  by  the  people  that 
heard  Him  promise  this  Sacrament  to  men. 
They  had  not  confidence  and  patience  to  wait 
and  see  how  He  intended  to  carry  out  His 
wonderful  promise.  They  did  not  understand 
that  He  was  going  to  give  them,  not  a  mortal, 
suffering  Body,  but  one  that  was  immortal  and 
impassible.  He  was  to  give  Himself  truly  and 
really,  but  in  a  supernatural  and  glorified  state. 

The  exact  condition  of  a  glorified  body  is  a 
thing  which  we  cannot  understand.  Our  Lord 
says :  u  See  my  hands  and  feet,  that  it  is  I 
myself ;  handle  and  see  ;  for  a  spirit  hath  not 
flesh  and  bones  as  you  see  me  to  have  "  (St.  Luke 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  29 

xxiv.  39).  He  was  not  a  spirit,  therefore,  and  yet 
our  Lord  "  stood  in  the  midst  of  them  when  the 
doors  were  shut "  (St.  John  xx.  26).  St.  Paul  speaks 
of  a  spiritual  body— that  is,  a  body  which  in  its 
qualities  and  state  of  existence  resembles  a 
spirit.  We  have  no  experience  of  such  a  body, 
and  cannot  in  the  least  picture  it  to  our  imagi 
nations.  It  is  no  longer  subject  to  the  laws  of 
this  nature,  and  is  no  longer  bounded  or 
controlled  by  considerations  of  space  or  time. 

St.  Ambrose  says :  "  We  see  here  the 
marvellous  nature  of  the  Lord's  glorified  Body. 
It  could  enter  unseen,  and  then  become  seen. 
It  could  easily  be  touched,  but  Its  nature  is  hard 
to  understand.  The  disciples  were  affrighted, 
and  supposed  that  they  had  seen  a  spirit.  And 
therefore  the  Lord,  that  He  might  show  the 
evidence  of  His  Resurrection,  said  :  *  Handle 
and  see  ;  for  a  spirit  hath  not  flesh  and  bones  as 
ye  see  Me  to  have '  (St.  Luke  xxiv.  39).  There 
fore  it  was  not  by  being  in  a  disembodied 
state,  but  by  the  peculiar  qualities  of  the  risen 
and  glorified  Body  that  He  had  passed  through 
closed  doors.  For  that  which  is  touched  or 
handled  is  a  body."  (ist  Lesson,  Easter  Tuesday.) 

This  consideration  is  the  simple  answer  to  a 
great  many  of  the  difficulties  which  strike  the 
imagination  with  regard  to  the  Blessed  Sacra 
ment.  How  is  it  possible  that  our  Lord  can 
have  left  Himself  at  the  mercy  of  men  ; — so  that 
the  sacred  Species  might  be  profaned  by 
unbelievers?  How  can  we  suppose  that  He 


30  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

could  allow  His  Body  and  Blood  to  be  cast  out 
on  the  wayside — or  even  trampled  under  foot 
by  His  enemies?  Why  ?  Because,  in  His 
Sacramental  Presence,  His  glorified  Body  is 
absolutely  beyond  all  injury.  He  passes  through 
the  hands  of  men  uninjured,  as  He  passed 
through  the  crowd  of  Jews  during  His  mortal 
life.  "And  they  brought  Him  to  the  brow  of 
the  hill,  whereon  their  city  was  built,  that  they 
might  cast  Him  down  headlong.  But  He, 
passing  through  the  midst  of  them,  went  His 
way  "  (St.  Luke  iv.  29,  30). 

No  attempt  of  man  can  in  the  least  injure 
Him  or  affect  His  royal  state  :  their  malice  only 
recoils  on  themselves.  Unbelievers  seem  to 
delight  in  imagining  all  sorts  of  risks  or  con 
ditions  of  dishonour  to  which  the  Holy  Eucharist 
might  be  exposed.  They  seem  to  forget  that  to 
the  glorified  humanity  of  our  Lord  all  external 
and  physical  conditions  are  absolutely  indifferent. 
To  the  Creator  of  all  things,  the  dust  of  the 
road  is  as  good  and  as  precious  as  the  most 
splendid  tabernacle  of  gold  and  jewels  ever 
made  by  mortal  hands.  We  offer  Him 
these  things,  and  rightly  ;  but  it  is  because 
they  are  precious  in  our  sight,  not  in  His. 
One  thing  only  can  injure  Him,  and  that  is 
sin,  and  sin  only  injures  Him  in  the  sense 
that  it  ruins  the  souls  which  He  loves  so 
much. 

When  the  Blessed  Sacrament  is  broken,  St. 
Thomas  tells  us  : 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  31 

"  Nulla  rei  fit  scissura  : 
Signi  tantum  fit  fractura  : 
Qua  nee  status  nee  statura 
Signati  minuitur." 

"  Of  the  substance  is  no  rending-, 
For  the  sign  alone  is  broken  ; 
None  the  less  the  state  and  stature 
Of  the  substance  signed  remains." — 

Bishop  Bagshawe's  translation. 

The  Church  takes  the  greatest  care  to  prevent 
any  disrespect  to  the  Holy  Sacrament,  because 
it  is  her  duty  so  to  honour  Him — not  because 
she  thinks  that  He  can  suffer  injury  or  needs 
her  care. 

"  Under  the  appearances  or  bread  and  wine." 
By  appearances  we  mean  all  those  properties  ot 
which  our  senses  are  able  to  take  note.  The 
correct  name  for  these  properties  is  "  accidents" 
— by  which  term  we  mean  all  those  qualities 
which  are  appreciable  by  our  senses.  St. 
Thomas  sums  up  these  in  the  words  : 

"  Visus,  tactus,  gustus  in  Te  fallitur, 
Sed  auditu  solo  tuto  creditur." 

"  Taste,  Touch,  and  Sight  in  Thee  are  deceived, 
But  the  Hearing  alone  may  be  safely  believed." 

We  say  that  the  senses  are  deceived,  as  St. 
Thomas  does  in  the  verse  above  quoted,  but 
this  is  not  really  correct.  The  senses  cannot 
possibly  tell  of  anything  except  sensible  qualities, 
and  do  not  pretend  to  explain  what  is  hidden 
under  these  externals.  The  substance  itself  is 
quite  beyond  us. 


32  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

Cardinal  Newman,  speaking  of  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  and  Transubstantiation,  says:  "It 
is  difficult,  impossible  to  imagine,  I  grant,  but 
how  is  it  difficult  to  believe  ?  .  .  .  For 
myself,  I  cannot  indeed  prove  it,  I  cannot  tell 
how  it  is  ;  but  I  say,  Why  should  not  it  be  ? 
What's  to  hinder  it?  What  do  I  know  of  sub 
stance  or  matter?  Just  as  much  as  the  greatest 
philosophers,  and  that  is  nothing  at  all.  .  .  . 
The  Catholic  doctrine  leaves  phenomena  alone. 
It  does  not  say  that  the  phenomena  go  :  on  the 
contrary  it  says  they  remain  :  nor  does  it  say 
that  the  same  phenomena  are  in  several  places 
at  once.  It  deals  with  what  no  one  on  earth 
knows  anything  about,  the  material  substances 
themselves." — Apologia  p.  375. 

The  account  given  by  our  senses,  then,  is 
perfectly  correct : — it  is  our  inference  from  this 
account  which  is  deceived,  because  by  the  power 
of  God,  a  new  and  supernatural  substance, 
namely  the  substance  of  the  Body  and  Blood 
of  Christ,  is  put  before  us,  in  place  of  that 
substance  which  these  accidents  usually  in 
dicate. 

"Under  the  appearances  of  bread  and  wine." 
Why  did  our  Lord  choose  to  hide  His  glory 
under  these  lowly  forms  ?  He  came  to  be  our 
food,  and  therefore  must  hide  Himself  under 
forms  most  fitted  to  be  our  food.  He  came  to 
spread  His  presence  widely  amongst  men,  and 
therefore  He  chose  the  simplest  and  commonest 
food,  that  which  was  within  reach  of  all  men. 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  33 

But  oh,    how  wonderful !    The    Creator   of  all 
things,  hidden  under  such  lowly  forms  ! 

"VERBUM   CARO    PANEM   VERUM 

VERBO  CARNEM    EFFICIT  : 
FITQUE    SANGUIS   CHRISTI    MERUM, 

ET  SI    SENSUS    DEFICIT 
AD    FIRMANDUM    COR    SINCERUM 
SOLA  FIDES    SUFFICIT." 

"The  Word  made  Flesh  makes  very  Bread 
Become  true  Flesh  by  His  one  word, 
And  wine  is  made  the  Blood  of  Christ  : 
And  if  weak  sense  is  not  assured, 
True  faith  unto  the  heart  sincere 
Most  firm  assurance  can  afford. "- 

Bishop  Bagshaive's  translation. 

"  Bread  and  wine."  The  Western  Church  uses 
bread  in  its  simplest  and  most  primitive  form  : 
that  is,  unleavened  bread.  This,  however,  is 
merely  a  matter  of  discipline,  and  in  the  Eastern 
Ritual  leavened  bread  is  used  for  Holy  Mass. 
All  that  is  necessary  for  the  Sacrament  is  that 
the  bread  and  wine  should  be  real  bread  and 
wine,  that  is,  bread  made  from  wheat,  and  wine 
which  is  the  juice  of  the  grape. 

"The  bread  and  wine  are  changed  into  the 
Body  and  Blood  of  Christ,  by  the  power  of  God, 
when  the  words  of  Consecration  are  pronounced 
by  the  priest  at  the  Mass." 

At  every  Mass  the  priest  consecrates  and 
receives  the  Holy  Eucharist  himself ;  and  also, 
when  necessary,  consecrates,  so  that  the  Blessed 


34  The   Treasure  of  the  Church. 

Sacrament  may  be  given  to  the  faithful  for  their 
food  and  reserved  in  the  tabernacle  for  their 
adoration. 

In  the  Blessed  Sacrament  there  are  two 
striking  wonders  :  the  perpetually  renewed  pres 
ence  of  our  Lord  by  Transubstantiation,  and 
the  perpetual  multiplication  of  this  presence, 
by  which  our  Lord  is  on  a  thousand  altars  at 
one  and  the  same  time.  We  cannot  fancy  any 
greater  wonders,  and  yet  both  miracles  are 
absolutely  necessary  in  order  to  carry  out  the 
end  and  aim  of  the  Institution  of  the  Holy 
Eucharist.  Without  this  perpetual  renewal  of 
the  Sacred  Species,  the  Presence  of  God  Incar 
nate  could  not  have  been  kept  on  earth  for  all 
these  centuries  ;  and  without  the  multiplication 
of  this  presence,  our  Lord  could  never  have 
brought  His  Incarnation  home  to  the  millions 
scattered  over  the  face  of  the  earth. 

There  are  two  miracles  in  our  Lord's  life 
which  specially  illustrate  these  great  wonders. 
One  of  these  is  the  miracle  of  Cana  in  Galilee, 
and  the  other  the  feeding  of  the  5,000  people  in 
the  desert.  The  first  miracle  which  Jesus  worked 
in  the  sight  of  men  was  the  changing  of  the 
water  into  wine  ;  the  last,  before  His  Passion, 
was  the  changing  the  bread  and  wine  into  His 
Body  and  Blood.  In  both  cases  the  miracle  was 
one  of  transubstantiation  ;  that  wonderful  act  of 
divine  power  which  is  like  nothing  else  than 
creation. 

The  miracle  of  the  marriage  feast  is  a  strikingly 


The   Treasure  of  the  Church.  35 

appropriate  type  and  forerunner  of  the  Holy 
Eucharist.  The  Blessed  Sacrament  is,  as  we 
have  shown,  the  special  means  by  which  God 
is  united  to  His  Church.  We  may  consider  the 
Last  Supper  as  the  great  marriage  feast  of  the 
espousals  of  Christ  with  His  Church.  "With 
desire  have  I  desired  to  eat  this  Pasch  with  you 
before  I  suffer"  (St.  Luke  xxii.  15).  Why  this 
great  desire?  His  desire  was  expressed  in  His 
burning  words  :  "  How  am  I  straightened  till 
it  be  accomplished  "  (St.  Luke  xii.  50).  It  was 
not  merely  a  leave-taking,  but  it  was  the  com 
plete  union  with  His  apostles,  for  which  He 
longed,  through  which  He  was  to  be  espoused 
for  ever  to  His  Church. 

Again,  we  may  say  that  Our  Lord  went  to  that 
marriage  feast  to  join  in  the  festivities  of  His 
creatures,  to  consecrate  them  by  His  presence. 
Religion  was  not  to  be  a  thing  of  gloom  in 
which  every  joyous  feeling  was  to  be  suppressed, 
and  to  show  us  this  He  worked  His  first 
miracle. 

What  better  illustration  can  there  be  of  that 
joyous  Eucharistic  feast  to  which  Our  Lord 
invites  us  in  Holy  Communion?  Its  very  name 
Eucharist  means  thanksgiving,  and  in  it  we  are 
sitting  down  to  that  great  and  glorious  banquet 
in  which  we  are  fellow  guests  with  the  angels. 

I  hope  it  may  not  be  fanciful  to  say  that  as 
Our  Lord  by  His  word  changed  water  into  wine, 
so  in  the  Holy  Eucharist  He  is  prepared  to 
change  all  our  weak  and  imperfect  aspirations 


36  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

into  something  valuable  in  the  sight  of  God,  by 
the  infusion  of  His  Divine  Presence. 

The  miracle  of  feeding  the  five  thousand  in 
the  desert  illustrates  the  other  striking  wonder  of 
the  Holy  Eucharist.  We  adore  our  Lord  in 
one  of  our  churches,  and  then,  when  we  have 
gone  a  short  distance,  we  find  Him  waiting  for 
us  again  in  another — the  same  Lord  and  God, 
surrounded  by  the  same  awful  and  invisible 
court. 

How  can  this  be?  How  can  the  human  mind 
accept  so  marvellous  a  Presence  ? 

To  understand  it  a  little,  see  Jesus  in  the 
desert  surrounded  by  a  vast  multitude.  lie 
blesses  those  few  loaves,  and  they  are  multiplied 
till  they  suffice  for  the  nourishment  of  all. 

"  I  have  compassion  on  the  multitudes  .  .  .  lest 
they  faint  in  the  way  "  (St.  Matt.  xv.  32).  Is  not 
this  the  very  motive  of  the  Holy  Eucharist, 
4 'lest  they  faint  in  the  way;"  not  the  short 
journey  through  the  desert,  but  our  long  pil 
grimage  to  the  shores  of  eternal  life? 

We  may  moreover  point  another  resemblance, 
and  this  applies  also  to  the  miracle  of  the 
marriage  feast.  It  was  the  power  of  God 
Incarnate  that  worked  the  miracles,  but  in  both 
cases  it  was  by  the  hands  of  men  :  "  He  blessed 
and  brake  and  gave  the  loaves  to  His  disciples, 
and  the  disciples  to  the  multitudes  "  (St.  Matt, 
xiv.  19). 

The  same  we  see  in  the  other  miracle  :  "  Draw 
out  now,  and  carry  to  the  chief  steward  of  the 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  37 

feast "  (St.  John  ii.  8).  Is  not  this  an  anticipation 
of  the  way  in  which  our  Lord  leaves  His 
Precious  Body  to  His  priests,  to  be  multiplied 
in  their  hands  till  all  His  faithful  have  their  fill? 

St.  Thomas  Aquinas  says  :  "  O  how  precious  a 
thing,  then,  how  marvellous,  how  health-giving, 
how  furnished  with  all  dainties,  is  the  supper  of 
the  Lord  !  Than  His  supper  can  anything  be 
more  precious?  Therein  is  put  before  us  for 
meat,  not  as  of  old  times,  the  flesh  of  bulls  and 
of  goats,  but  Christ  Himself  our  very  God. 
Than  this  Sacrament  can  anything  be  more 
marvellous?  Therein  it  cometh  to  pass  that 
bread  and  wine  are  bread  and  wine  no  more,  but 
in  the  stead  thereof  there  is  the  Body  and  there 
is  the  Blood  of  Christ :  that  is  to  say,  Christ 
Himself,  Perfect  God  and  Perfect  Man  :  Christ 
Himself  is  there  under  the  appearances  of  a 
little  bread  and  wine.  All  that  the  senses 
can  reach  in  this  Sacrament — (look,  taste,  feel, 
smell,  and  the  like) — all  these  abide  of  bread  and 
wine,  but  the  thing  is  not  bread  and  wine."  ($th 
lesson,  Corpus  Chris  ft.) 

In  these  words  St.  Thomas  Aquinas  lays  down 
most  clearly  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  Transub- 
stantiation,  that  is  the  changing  of  the  substance 
of  bread  and  wine  into  the  substance  of  His 
own  Body  and  Blood,  which  takes  place  when 
the  words  of  Consecration  are  pronounced. 
This  doctrine  is  one  of  the  points  of  the  Catholic 
Faith  most  strenuously  attacked. 

"Transubstantiation,"    say    the    Thirty-nine 


38  The   Treasure  of  the  Church. 


Articles,  "  is  repugnant  to  the  plain  words  of 
Scripture,  overthroweth  the  nature  of  a  Sacra 
ment,  and  hath  given  occasion  to  many  super 
stitions  "  (Art.  28). 

Transubstantiation,  however,  is  the  only 
doctrine  that  gives  us  a  plain  and  clear  notion  of 
what  the  Holy  Eucharist  is.  In  all  the  other 
views  put  forward  :  in  the  idea  that  our  Lord  is 
there  by  Consubstantiation,  that  is,  that  the  sub 
stance  of  the  bread  and  our  Lord's  Body  are 
present  at  the  same  time :  in  the  idea  that  our 
Lord  is  present  with  those  who  believe,  and  not 
present  with  those  who  do  not :  in  all  these, 
there  is  a  great  degree  of  vagueness.  Those 
who  hold  them  do  not  seem  to  have  quite  made  up 
their  minds  as  to  what  they  believe.  Transubstan 
tiation,  moreover,  is  the  only  doctrine  which 
exactly  corresponds  with  the  words  of  Institution. 
Our  Lord  does  not  say  :  "  Here  is  my  Body,"  but 
"this  is  my  Body":  that  is,  "  this  very  thing 
which  I  hold  in  my  hand,  is  my  Body." 

The  doctrine  of  Transubstantiation  is,  however, 
in  one  sense,  a  secondary  question.  It  concerns 
the  way  in  which  our  Lord  is  present  in  the 
Holy  Eucharist,  and  it  is  useless  to  discuss  this 
unless  we  are  agreed  as  to  the  reality  of  His 
Presence. 

Hence  it  was  that  in  their  letter  to  the 
Archbishops  of  Canterbury  and  York,  the 
Catholic  bishops  so  carefully  avoided  all  con 
troversy  about  Transubstantiation,  and  confined 
themselves  to  asking  their  Graces  whether  they 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  39 


did  or  did  not  believe  in  the  real  objective 
presence  of  our  Lord  in  the  Holy  Eucharist. 
If  our  Lord  is  really  and  actually  present  in  the 
Sacred  Species  in  a  way  in  which  He  is  not 
present  anywhere  else  on  earth,  it  matters 
comparatively  little  in  what  manner  He  is 
present.  It  is  indeed  a  great  question  for 
theologians  and  philosophers,  and  one  in  which 
we  must  most  carefully  follow  the  teaching  of 
the  Church — but,  in  whatever  way  He  is  present, 
that  Presence  must  be  equally  mysterious  and 
wonderful  to  us. 

It  is  said  that  this  doctrine  was  introduced  by 
Schoolmen  at  a  late  period  of  Church  history, 
because  very  little  explicit  mention  of  it  is  found 
in  earlier  writings.  This,  however,  only  shows 
the  complete  unanimity  of  the  Church.  It  is 
not  as  if  earlier  ages  could  have  ignored  or  been 
indifferent  to  the  Divine  mysteries.  All  Chris 
tians  had  constantly  before  them  the  burning 
words  of  the  Liturgy  ;  and  the  Mass,  more  than 
anything  else,  entered  into  their  daily  lives  ;  and 
yet  no  single  controversy  arose  about  it.  It  was 
not  because  people  were  not  sufficiently  ready  to 
dispute  on  such  subjects.  For  instance,  the 
schismatic  Greeks  made  the  question  of  leavened 
or  unleavened  bread — which  is,  after  all,  only  a 
question  of  discipline — the  ground  of  an  intense 
hatred  against  the  Latins.  Even  in  their  ex 
tremity,  when  Constantinople  was  on  the  point 
of  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  Turks,  they  cried 
out :  "  Away  with  the  worship  of  the  Azymites  " 


40  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 


— that  is,  those  who  use  unleavened  bread.  So, 
again,  a  great  schism  arose  on  the  question  of 
receiving  Holy  Communion  under  both  kinds. 
About  Transubstantiation,  however,  no  word  of 
controversy  was  raised,  and  the  term  was  at  once 
adopted  as  expressing  the  faith  of  all  Christians. 
At  that  time,  and  at  the  present  moment,  there 
is  not  the  slightest  difference  of  doctrine  between 
Catholics  and  the  Greek  Church. 

People  say  that  theologians,  writing  on  the 
Blessed  Sacrament,  go  into  a  vast  number  of 
questions  which  seem  unnecessary.  This  is 
true  of  the  Holy  Eucharist,  and  of  all  other 
doctrines.  We  must  remember,  however,  that 
these  doctrines  had  been  believed  for  ages,  and, 
we  may  say,  were  deep  in  the  hearts  of  the 
faithful  long  before  theologians  began  to  discuss 
them.  It  is  the  nature  of  the  human  mind  to 
analyse  its  thoughts,  and  the  accurate  analysis 
worked  out  by  theologians  is  a  most  striking 
testimony  to  the  fulness  and  accuracy  of  the 
faith  already  believed. 

J 

I  will  here  quote  a  passage  from  a  non-Catholic 
writer  which  appears  to  me  very  true  and  very 
striking  : — 

"  According  to  ordinary  Protestant  opinion, 
the  doctrines  of  the  Church  of  Rome  represent 
a  structure  built  up  by  the  misguided  ingenuity 
of  priests,  and  imposed  by  them  on  a  credulous 
and  passive  laity  ;  but  the  truth,  in  reality,  is 
exactly  the  reverse  of  this.  It  is  the  world  of 
ordinary  believers  that  has  imposed  its  belief  on 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  41 

the  priests,  not  the  priests  that  have  imposed 
theirs  on  the  world  of  ordinary  believers.  Let 
us  take,  for  example,  the  Roman  doctrine  of  the 
Eucharist,  or  the  belief  implied  in  the  cultus  of 
the  Virgin  Mary.  That  the  sacramental  elements 
were  actually  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ :  that 
the  Redeemer  Who  died  on  the  Cross  for  each 
individual  sinner,  entered  under  the  form  of 
these  elements  into  each  sinner's  body — entered, 
bearing  the  stripes  on  it  by  which  the  sinner 
was  healed,  and  mixing  with  the  sinner's  blood 
the  Divine  blood  that  had  been  shed  for  him  : 
this  was  the  belief  of  the  common  unlettered 
communicant  long  before  priests  and  theologians 
had,  by  the  aid  of  Aristotle,  explained  the 
assumed  miracle  as  a  process  of  Transubstantia- 
tion  ;  and  longer  still  before  the  philosophic 
explanation  was,  by  the  ratification  of  any 
General  Council,  given  its  place  among  the 
definite  teachings  of  the  Church. 

44  Similarly,  the  devotion  to  the  Virgin  Mary 
first  sprung  up  among  the  mass  of  believers 
naturally  because  the  idea  of  God's  mother,  with 
all  her  motherly  love,  with  all  her  virgin  purity, 
and  with  all  her  human  sorrows,  allied  so  closely 
to  omnipotence,  touched  countless  hearts  in  a 
way  which  was  in  all  cases  practically  similar  ; 
just  as  the  offer  of  a  helping  hand  would  make 
a  similar  appeal  to  each  one  of  a  multitude  of 
men  drowning. 

"  The  official  teaching  ot  Rome  with  regard 
to  the  Virgin's  sinlessness,  and  the  degree  of 


42  The   Treasure  of  the  Church. 

worship  which  is  her  due,  has  been  the  work,  no 
doubt,  of  the  few,  not  of  the  many,  of  priests, 
of  theologians,  of  councils.  But  the  doctrines 
they  have  thus  defined  have  not  been  fabricated 
by  themselves.  The  doctrines  have  had  their 
origin  in  the  pious  opinions  which  have  spon 
taneously  shaped  themselves  in  the  minds  of 
innumerable  Christians,  as  the  result  of  a  multi 
tude  of  independent  spiritual  experiences. 
Gradually  theologians  have  reduced  these  to 
logical  and  coherent  forms  ;  and  at  last  they 
have  been  submitted  to  one  great  representative 
Council.  This  Council,  which,  according  to  the 
Roman  theory,  is  guarded  from  error  by  the 
spiritual  assistance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  considers 
how  far  these  doctrines  are  consistent  with  the 
doctrines  already  defined,  and  with  one  another  ; 
and  how  far,  explicitly  or  implicitly,  there  is  any 
warrant  for  them  in  the  Scriptures.  It  ends 
with  rejecting  some,  while  others  are  harmonised 
and  affirmed  by  it  ;  and  then  these  last  are  added 
to  the  authoritative  teaching  of  the  Church." 
("  Doctrine  and  Doctrinal  Disruption,"  by  W. 
H.  Mallock). 

This  passage  might  at  first  sight  be  supposed 
to  imply  that  these  doctrines  about  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  and  the  Blessed  Virgin  were  mere 
inventions  of  the  populace,  which  had  by  degrees 
been  absorbed  into  the  Catholic  faith.  I  do  not 
think  the  author  means  this,  and  certainly  it  is 
not  the  case.  Truths  were  revealed  to  men,  but 
they  were  living  truths,  and  not  mere  proposi- 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  43 

tions.  The  moment  these  truths  were  planted  in 
the  minds  and  hearts  of  men — that  is,  as  soon  as 
men  realised  them — they  began  to  expand  just 
as  a  living  seed  does,  and  to  produce  irresistibly 
those  beliefs  and  feelings  which  really  are  con 
tained  in  them.  When  people  get  hold  of  a 
living  principle,  true  or  false,  they  do  not  gener 
ally  see  at  once  all  that  is  contained  in  that 
principle,  although  the  logical  deductions  are 
sure  to  make  themselves  manifest  by  degrees. 

It  was  so  in  the  truths  revealed  to  the  early 
Christians.  It  is  very  likely  that  they  did  not 
at  once  recognise  all  the  consequences  following 
from  the  great  truths  they  had  so  lovingly 
accepted,  and  which  were  so  near  to  their  hearts, 
but  they  were  there  as  certainly  as  the  leaves 
and  buds  are  in  the  seed.  In  due  time  they 
must  make  their  appearance,  and  the  Church, 
inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  at  once  recognised 
them  as  genuine  developments  of  the  Faith 
once  delivered  to  the  Saints,  and  defined  them 
accordingly. 

The  early  Christians  received  the  doctrine  of 
our  Lord's  real  presence  in  the  Holy  Eucharist, 
and  probably  did  not  think  it  necessary  to  con 
sider  very  closely  the  manner  in  which  He  was 
present.  When,  in  after  ages,  they  could  give 
time  and  thought  to  the  question,  it  became  very 
clear  that  the  doctrine  of  Transubstantiation  was 
the  only  teaching  consistent  with  what  the 
Church  had  always  believed. 

It  is  conceivable  that  our  Lord    might  have 


44  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

chosen  to  be  present  in  the  Holy  Eucharist  in 
some  other  way  ;  but  this  seems  clear,  that  there 
never  has  been  any  real  and  steady  belief  in  the 
objective  presence  of  our  Lord,  except  amongst 
those  who  believed  in  Transubstantiation. 

For  example,  Luther  taught  that  our  Lord 
was  really  present  in  the  Holy  Eucharist  by  what 
was  called  Consubstantiation — that  our  Lord  was 
present,  and  that  the  substance  of  bread  was 
also  there. 

The  belief  in  the  Real  Presence  amongst 
Lutherans,  however,  has  always  been  the  faintest 
and  poorest  shadow  of  a  faith  that  can  be  con 
ceived.  All  devotion  to  the  Real  Presence  has 
practically  died  out  from  amongst  them  long 
ago,  although  there  is  some  theoretical  belief  to 
be  found  in  their  books.  So,  again,  the  words 
of  the  English  Prayer  Book  express  belief  in 
the  Real  Presence,  though  they  are  so  bitter 
against  Transubstantiation.  Yes,  but  how  much 
reality  is  there  in  this  belief?  At  this  moment, 
no  human  being  can  tell  whether  the  Church  of 
Englandbelievesina  realobjective  presenceor  not. 

The  Blessed  Sacrament  abounds  in  miracles. 
In  whichever  way  we  look  at  it,  it  is  full  of  mys 
teries — mysteries  both  of  power  and  of  love. 
But,  perhaps  it  may  be  objected  that  these 
miracles  which  we  cannot  see  ought  to  have 
some  external  indication.  Is  it  not  reasonable 
to  expect  that  when  such  a  mighty  change  has 
been  effected,  and  these  poor  elements  have 
become  nothing  less  than  the  body  and  blood  of 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  45 

the  Incarnate  Word — is  it  not  reasonable  to 
expect  some  outward  change,  something  to  show 
us  that  a  great  miracle  has  been  worked  under 
our  eyes  ? 

That  is  how  men  would  naturally  argue.  A 
moment's  reflection,  however,  is  enough  to  show 
that  this  could  not  be.  A  perpetual  miracle, 
always  visible  to  the  eyes  of  men,  would  entirely 
disarrange  the  plans  which  God  has  laid  down 
for  the  human  race:  "We  walk  by  faith,  and 
not  by  sight"  (2  Cor.  v.  7).  If  we  could  see 
miracles  whenever  we  pleased,  there  would  be 
an  end  of  faith  :  we  should  then  walk  by  sight  ; 
and  so  the  whole  of  the  system  which  God  has 
appointed  for  the  human  race  would  be  set  aside. 
Miracles  may,  and,  in  fact,  do  happen  occasion 
ally  without  producing  this  effect :  to  mankind 
at  large  these  miracles  themselves  are  a  matter 
of  faith,  which  they  cannot  verify  at  pleasure. 
It  would  not  be  so  with  miracles  happening 
regularly.  If,  for  instance,  every  time  we  heard 
Mass  or  assisted  at  Benediction,  we  were  favoured 
with  the  sight  of  our  Lord's  glorified  body  as  it 
is,  or  of  some  distinctly  heavenly  sign,  there 
would  be  no  more  room  for  faith. 

We  say,  then,  that  our  Lord  does  not  give  us 
any  outward  sign  whatever  of  the  mystery  of 
transubstantiation  because,  if  He  had  done  so, 
the  whole  economy  of  the  present  world  would 
have  been  altered,  faith  would  have  ceased  to 
exist,  and,  moreover,  devotion  and  love  would 
have  ceased  to  be  valuable.  If  now  we  show 


46  The   Treasure  of  the  Church. 

love  and  tenderness  to  our  Lord  in  the  Blessed 
Sacrament,  if  we  treat  Him  reverently  and  serve 
Him  heartily,  He  graciously  accepts  our  service 
as  valuable  because  it  is  offered  through  faith. 
If,  however,  we  could  see  Him  in  His  glory 
with  our  mortal  eyes,  it  certainly  would  be  no 
merit  if,  "  falling  down,  we  adored  Him."  How 
could  we  help  doing  so  ! 

This  is  beautifully  illustrated  by  the  story  of 
St.  Louis  of  France,  which  I  daresay  you  have 
often  heard.  The  story  is  that  the  King  was 
praying  in  a  church,  when  a  miraculous  appear 
ance  took  place.  The  people  ran  to  tell  the 
King  of  this  heavenly  vision  which  was  vouch 
safed  to  them  ;  but  he  replied  :  4t  Let  those  go 
and  see  who  do  not  believe.  I  will  not  go, 
because  our  Lord  has  said,  '  Blessed  are  those 
who  have  not  seen,  and  yet  believe.''  These 
last  words  ought  always  to  be  in  our  minds,  and 
ought  to  make  us  feel  how  great  is  the  gift  our 
Lord  has  bestowed  upon  us  in  His  Eucharistic 
Presence. 

Let  us  conclude  with  the  words  of  St.  Thomas's 
hymn  : 

ADORO   TE    DEVOTE    LATENS    DEITAS, 
QUAE    SUB    HIS    FIGURIS    VERE    LATITAS  ; 
TIBI    SE    COR    MEUM   TOTUM    SUBJICIT  ; 
QUIA   TE    CONTEMPLANS   TOTUM    DEFICIT. 

"  I  worship  Thee  devoutly,  Who  dost  hide 
Within  these  figures,  hidden  Deity  ; 
And  utterly  subject  my  heart  to  Thee, 
To  comprehend  Thee,  failing1  utterly." 


CHAPTER   IIL 


THE   GIFT    CONVEYED    TO    MAN. — HOLY    COM 
MUNION. — PREPARATION   OF   SOUL. 

Our  capacity  for  receiving-  grace. — "Discerning  the  Body  of 
the  Lord." — Who  is  there. — The  treatment  He  deserves. — 
What  the  Church  of  England  thinks. — Why  He  comes. — 
"Let  a  man  prove  himself.'11 — Sin,  its  nature  and 
kinds. — The  crime  of  Judas. — Gravel  in  the  wheels. — 
Essence  of  Mortal  sin. — Grace,  its  meaning-  and 
kinds. — The  helping-  hand. — The  wedding-  g-arment. — 
Sacrament  of  Penance,  the  Divinely  appointed  "  proof.  "- 
"Compulsory  Confession  "  and  "Ecclesiastical  domina 
tion." 

I  NOW  come  to  the  conditions  for  receiving  the 
Holy  Eucharist  worthily.  The  Catechism  says  : 
"  In  order  to  receive  the  Blessed  Sacrament 
worthily,  it  is  required  that  we  should  be  in  a 
state  of  grace,  and  fasting  from  midnight." 

The  best  preparation  for  Holy  Communion  is, 
obviously,  a  good  life.  If  you  are  honestly 
trying  to  love  and  serve  God,  and  that  not  only 
on  special  occasions,  but  habitually,  then  your 
life  is  a  perpetual  preparation  for  Holy  Com 
munion.  But  if  you  are  not  really  trying  to 


48  The   Treasure  of  the  Church. 


save  your  soul,  it  is  very  difficult  to  be  well 
prepared.  The  very  idea  of  the  Holy  Sacrament 
is  that  it  is  to  support  you  in  your  journey 
through  the  wilderness  to  the  promised  land  ; 
but  if  you  are  not  in  earnest  in  making  that 
journey,  you  cannot  expect  the  Divine  food  to 
profit  you  much. 

The  hearth-cake  which  the  angel  brought  to 
Elias  is  taken  as  a  type  of  the  Blessed  Sacra 
ment.  The  angel  said  to  him  :  "  Arise,  eat :  for 
thou  hast  yet  a  great  way  to  go.  And  he  arose, 
and  eat,  and  drank,  and  walked  in  the  strength 
of  that  food  forty  days  and  forty  nights,  unto 
the  Mount  of  God  "  (3  Kings  xix.  7,  8).  The  food 
is  given  for  a  special  purpose,  and  the  strength 
it  gives  corresponds  with  the  energy  displayed 
in  carrying  out  that  purpose. 

Besides  this  general  preparation,  however,  a 
special  preparation  is  needed,  and  on  the  excel 
lence  of  this  preparation  the  effect  of  the  Sacra 
ment  in  a  great  degree  depends. 

The  sacraments  give  grace  directly  by  Divine 
appointment — that  is,  they  are  like  fountains, 
pouring  out  water  abundantly  and  spontaneously 
for  all  who  approach  them.  They  fill  all  who 
come  to  them  certainly,  but  fill  them  in  propor 
tion  to  their  capacity  for  receiving. 

You  can  illustrate  this  by  the  miracle  of  the 
prophet  Eliseus,  told  us  in  the  fourth  book  of 
Kings.  A  poor  woman  said  to  him  :  "I  thy 
handmaid  have  nothing  in  my  house  but  a  little 
oil  to  anoint  me.  And  he  said  to  her  :  Go,  borrow 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  49 

of  all  thy  neighbours  empty  vessels  not  a  few.  .  . 
So  the  woman  went,  and  shut  the  door  upon 
her,  and  upon  her  sons  :  they  brought  her 
the  vessels  and  she  poured  in.  And  when  the 
vessels  were  full,  she  said  to  her  son  :  Bring  me 
yet  a  vessel.  And  he  answered :  I  have  no 
more.  And  the  oil  stood  "  (4  Kings  iv.  2). 

The  grace  which  our  Lord  gives  in  the  Sacra 
ments  depends  upon  our  capacity  for  receiving. 
When  there  is  no  more  room,  the  oil  stands. 
The  capacity  we  have  for  receiving  God's  grace 
depends  largely  upon  our  diligence  in  preparing 
ourselves  to  receive  the  Sacraments. 

The  first  and  most  remarkable  of  all  the  in 
structions  for  Holy  Communion  is  that  given 
by  St.  Paul  in  his  first  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians, 
chap,  xi.:  u  For  I  have  received  of  the  Lord  that 
which  also  I  delivered  unto  you,  that  the  Lord 
Jesus,  the  same  night  in  which  He  was  betrayed, 
took  bread,  and  giving  thanks,  broke  and  said  : 
Take  ye  and  eat ;  this  is  My  body  which  shall 
be  delivered  for  you  :  this  do  for  the  commemora 
tion  of  Me.  In  like  manner  also  the  chalice 
after  He  had  supped,  saying :  This  chalice  is 
the  new  testament  in  My  blood  :  this  do  ye  .  .  . 
for  the  commemoration  of  Me.  For  as  often  as 
you  shall  eat  this  bread  and  drink  this  chalice,  you 
shall  show  the  death  of  the  Lord  until  He  come. 
Therefore,  whosoever  shall  eat  this  bread  or  drink 
the  chalice  of  the  Lord  unworthily  shall  be 
guilty  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  the  Lord.  But 
let  a  man  prove  himself,  and  so  let  him  eat  of 


50  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

that  bread  and  drink  of  the  chalice.  For  he  that 
eateth  and  drinketh  unworthily,  eateth  and 
drinketh  judgment  to  himself,  not  discerning  the 
body  of  the  Lord"  (i  Cor.  xi.  23). 

"  Not  discerning  the  body  of  the  Lord."  Our 
first  necessity  for  Holy  Communion,  then,  is  to 
"discern  the  body  of  the  Lord." 

If  we  do  not  understand  the  quality  of  the 
Divine  food  which  we  are  receiving,  how  can  we 
receive  it  properly?  If  we  do  not  recognise  the 
Lord,  Who  is  coming  to  visit  us,  how  can  we 
entertain  Him  becomingly? 

By  "  discerning,"  the  Apostle  evidently  means 
seeing  clearly,  and  understanding  plainly  the 
presence  of  our  Lord  in  the  Holy  Sacrament. 
We  do  this,  in  the  first  place,  by  having  a  proper 
intellectual  knowledge  of  all  that  the  Catholic 
Church  teaches  us  about  the  Blessed  Sacrament. 
The  knowledge  which  we  have  of  religious 
matters  ought  to  be  in  reasonable  proportion  to 
our  knowledge  of  other  things.  If  you  found 
anyone  well  informed  on  all  secular  subjects, 
but  with  a  scanty  and  rudimentary  knowledge  of 
the  truths  of  the  Catholic  faith,  you  would  think 
it  a  scandal.  You  would  think  that  he  was 
wanting  in  a  proper  appreciation  of  his  religion, 
and  in  a  proper  respect  for  it. 

Accordingly,  "  discerning  the  body  of  the 
Lord,"  means  having  a  sufficiently  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  doctrine,  in  proportion  to  the 
intelligence  and  education  which  God  has  given 
you.  But  this  is  not  quite  enough.  You  must 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  51 


discern  our  Lord's  body,  not  only  with  the  head 
but  with  the  heart — and  this  second  way  of 
discerning  it  is  the  most  necessary. 

You  may  find,  for  example,  many  poor 
people,  many  a  labouring  man  and  hard-work 
ing  woman,  who  has  very  little  intellectual 
knowledge  of  the  Holy  Sacrament,  and  yet 
most  thoroughly  discerns  the  body  of  the 
Lord.  If  you  were  to  ask  a  few  questions, 
you  would,  probably,  very  soon  puzzle  these 
poor  people  ;  but,  for  all  that,  they  may  discern 
the  Body  of  the  Lord  more  effectually  than 
many  a  theologian.  They  discern  It — not  with 
their  heads,  but  with  their  hearts  :  they  delight 
in  coming  before  Jesus  in  the  Holy  Sacrament — 
they  are  sedulous  in  hearing  Mass,  attending 
Benedictions  and  making  visits  to  the  Blessed 
Sacrament,  and  in  this  way  they  fully  discern 
the  Presence  of  the  Lord,  though  perhaps  they 
would  not  find  it  very  easy  to  explain  their  faith 
in  words. 

The  first  thing,  then,  is  to  discern  the  Body  and 
the  Blood  of  our  Lord  in  the  Blessed  Eucharist 
— by  having  good  and  accurate  knowledge  of 
the  true  faith  concerning  It,  and  then  by  bringing 
that  holy  faith  home  to  your  heart  by  prayer 
and  meditation. 

And  now,  perhaps,  someone  may  ask  more 
precisely  what  it  is  that  we  have  to  discern.  To 
this  we  may  answer :  we  have  first  to  under 
stand  that  here  before  us  in  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  we  have  our  Lord  in  His  Divine  and 


The  Treasure  oj  the  Church. 


human  natures  :  that  Jesus  Christ  is  present 
with  us,  as  He  was  upon  earth,  but  that  His 
Body  is  now  glorified,  and  that  He  is  with  us  in 
a  new  and  wonderful  state  of  existence,  which 
our  minds  cannot  grasp  during  this  mortal  life  : 
—of  which  we  have  no  experience.  We  have 
to  understand  that  Jesus  Christ  is  hiding  Himself 
under  these  forms  of  bread  and  wine  that  He 
may  be  with  His  people  to  the  end  of  time,  and 
communicate  the  virtue  of  His  Incarnation  to 
millions  of  men  individually. 

Secondly,  we  have  to  renew  our  faith  in  the 
Incarnation  and  to  realize  it  to  our  minds.  This 
Jesus  is  "  God  of  God,  Light  of  Light,  true  God 
of  true  God,  begotten  not  made,  consubstantial 
to  the  Father,  by  whom  all  things  were  made." 
There  can  be  no  true  faith  in  the  Real  Presence 
of  our  Lord  in  the  Holy  Sacrament  without  a 
true  and  fervent  belief  in  the  Incarnation. 
What  is  before  us  in  the  Holy  Eucharist  is  God 
incarnate,  that  very  Lord  in  whose  presence  the 
angels  veil  their  faces — at  whose  feet  they  cast 
their  crowns.  Through  a  vivid  and  lively  faith 
in  the  Incarnation  only,  can  you  really  discern 
the  Body  of  our  Lord  in  the  Holy  Sacrament. 

Thirdly,  you  must  see  clearly  not  only  who 
our  Lord  is,  but  you  must  appreciate  His 
dignity.  He  is,  everywhere,  King  and  God  and 
Saviour  and  has  a  right  to  be  welcomed  as  such. 
When  He  was  an  infant  in  the  stable  of 
Bethlehem,  He  was  King  and  God — and  had  a 
right  to  the  supreme  and  adoring  worship  of  all 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  53 

angels  and  men  :  "  And  falling  down  they 
adored  Him"  (St.  Matt.  ii.  n).  Again  on  the 
cross,  He  was  King  and  God — and  the  world 
could  not  help  acknowledging  His  royalty  in 
spite  of  itself — "Jesus  of  Nazareth,  King  of 
the  Jews "  (St.  John  xix.  19). 

In  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  likewise,  He  must 
be  King  and  God, — and  those  who  do  not  treat 
Him  as  such,  are  evidently  as  far  as  possible 
from  really  believing  in  His  Presence.  The 
Church  of  England  declares  that  "  no  adoration 
is  intended,  or  ought  to  be  done,  either  unto  the 
Sacramental  Bread  or  Wine  there  bodily 
received,  or  unto  any  Corporal  Presence  of 
Christ's  natural  Flesh  and  Blood."  By  this  it 
manifestly  declares  that  it  does  not  believe  in 
any  objective  presence  of  our  Lord  in  the 
Sacrament.* 

Whatever  other  words  may  be  produced, 
apparently  teaching  the  real  presence,  they  are 
all  shown  to  be  meaningless  when  tried  by  this 
test.  If  Christ  is  not  to  be  honoured  and  adored 
in  the  Holy  Sacrament,  He  is  clearly  not 
present.  If  we  discern  the  Body  of  the  Lord, 
we  must  also  clearly  discern  the  right  which  He 
has  to  our  supreme  and  devoted  adoration  and 
reverence,  both  external  and  internal. 

One  more  thing  must  we  also  duly  discern— 
and  that  is  the  special  object  of  our  Lord's 
coming  to  us  in  this  way. 

The     Catechism    says  :     "  Christ    has    given 

*Note  at  the  end  of  the  Communion  Service. 


54  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 


Himself  to  us  in  this  Sacrament  to  be  the  life 
and  food  of  our  souls."  He  alone  can  maintain 
the  spiritual  life  within  us,  and  this  He  does 
specially  by  His  Sacramental  Presence. 

Think  of  the  parable  of  the  wise  and  foolish 
virgins  :  their  lamps  were  all  burning,  but  the 
light  could  not  be  maintained  without  frequently 
pouring  in  fresh  oil.  This  is  just  what  our 
Lord  does  for  us  in  Holy  Communion.  How 
ever  brilliant  the  lamp  may  be,  it  is  certain  that 
it  will  not  continue  to  burn,  unless  we  constantly 
renew  the  supply  of  oil  by  prayer  and  the 
frequent  use  of  the  Sacraments,  and  specially  by 
the  Holy  Eucharist. 

When  we  speak  therefore  of  discerning  the 
Body  of  the  Lord,  we  mean  to  include  four 
things  : 

(ist)  What  the  Blessed  Sacrament  really  is. 

(2nd)  Who  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is. 

(3rd)  What  is  the  treatment  which  He  deserves 
at  our  hands. 

(4th)  What  is  the  special  object  of  the  visit 
He  pays  us  when  we  receive  Holy  Communion. 

There  is,  however,  another  point  in  St.  Paul's 
instruction  to  which  we  must  attend.  He  says  : 
"  Let  a  man  prove  himself,  and  so  eat  of  this 
bread."  Why  are  we  to  prove  ourselves,  and 
what  are  we  to  find  out?  Is  it  to  ascertain  if  we 
are  free  from  sin,  and  worthy  to  receive  our 
Lord?  Certainly  not.  None  of  us  are  worthy, 
and  none  of  us  are  free  from  sin.  We  cannot 
be  so  during  this  mortal  life.  What  we  have 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  55 

to  find  is,  whether  we  are  or  are  not  in  a  state 
of  grace — that  is,  free  from  mortal  sin. 

We  may  well,  on  this  occasion,  pause  to 
consider  the  Church's  doctrine  on  the  subject 
of  mortal  and  venial  sin.  Every  sin  is  a  wilful 
violation  of  some  law  of  God,  and  therefore,  in 
a  sense,  a  rebellion  against  God.  Through  the 
infirmity  of  our  human  nature,  however,  a  great 
number  of  these  offences  are  so  incomplete  that, 
though  in  themselves  acts  of  rebellion,  they  are 
not  really  such  in  us.  There  is  in  us  so  much 
half  knowledge,  and  half  will  :  there  is  so  much 
inconsequence  of  judgment :  we  are  so  often 
taken  by  surprise  and  act  without  due  consider 
ation,  that  a  great  many  of  our  faults  fall  far 
short  of  being  a  real  rebellion.  These  we  call 
venial  sins.  Even  a  saint  cannot  altogether 
avoid  them  in  this  mortal  life,  however  much 
he  desires  to  serve  God,  and  however  heartily 
he  detests  any  rebellion  against  his  Creator. 

To  constitute  a  rebellion  against  God,  an  act 
must  not  only  be  wilful,  but  completely  wilful. 
By  this  we  mean  that  the  rebellious  act  must  be 
something  the  importance  of  which  we  can 
appreciate — since  our  nature  will  not  allow  us 
to  take  note  of  very  small  things — and  also  an 
act  which  we  commit  with  deliberation  sufficient 
to  enable  us  to  comprehend  what  we  are  doing. 

If  a  man  is  tempted  to  commit  some  act — 
whether  internal  or  external,  whether  by  thought, 
word,  deed  or  omission — which  act  he  knows 
to  be  a  serious  violation  of  the  laws  of  God  ; 


56  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

and,  having  had  sufficient  opportunity  for 
deliberation,  he  commits  the  act,  he  has  "  wor 
shipped  and  served  the  creature,  rather  than  the 
Creator,  who  is  blessed  for  ever"  (Rom.  i.  25). 
This  man  has  been  guilty  of  a  complete 
rebellion  against  his  Creator,  and  cut  himself 
from  the  grace  and  favour  of  God.  Such  a 
one  is  no  longer  in  a  state  of  grace,  but  is  in 
mortal  sin. 

A  sinful  act  like  this  is  vastly  different  from  a 
venial  sin.  Venial  sins  are  imperfect,  inchoate 
acts  of  rebellion,  which  the  weakness  of  our 
nature  will  not  allow  us  wholly  to  avoid,  and 
which,  therefore,  do  not  cut  us  off  from  God  or 
make  us  rebels  against  Him :  a  mortal  sin, 
however,  at  once  makes  a  man  the  enemy  of 
God. 

If,  in  such  a  condition,  anyone  were  to  dare 
to  receive  Holy  Communion,  he  would  be  guilty 
of  a  sacrilege.  He  would,  in  a  way,  be  repeat 
ing  the  crime  of  Judas.  The  crime  of  Judas 
consisted  in  this,  that  he  used  the  friendship 
and  familiarity  which  our  Lord  had  given  him, 
that  ready  access  which  Jesus  allowed  him,  in 
order  to  deliver  over  his  Master  into  the  hands 
of  sinners.  More  than  this,  he  used  the  sign  of 
greatest  friendship  to  be  the  instrument  of  his 
treachery  :  "Judas,  dost  thou  betray  the  Son  of 
Man  with  a  kiss?"  (St.  Luke  xxii.  48).  The 
sacrilegious  communicant  does  much  the  same 
thing.  He  uses  that  most  familiar  intercourse 
which  our  Lord  has  deigned  to  grant  us  as  a 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  57 

means  of  dishonouring  Him.  He  comes  up 
with  every  mark  of  external  reverence  to  receive 
our  Lord,  and  so  puts  Him  into  the  hands  of 
a  rebel  and  an  enemy. 

Let  us  see  what  St.  John  Chrysostom  says  on 
this  subject:  "  And  therefore  it  behoveth  thee 
in  all  things  to  be  on  thy  guard,  for  the  punish 
ment  of  him  that  eateth  or  drinketh  unworthily 
is  no  light  one.  Bethink  thee  how  thou  art 
indignant  against  him  who  betrayed  and  them 
that  crucified  the  Lord  :  and  look  to  it  well  that 
thou  also  be  not  (  Guilty  of  the  Body  and  Blood 
of  the  Lord.'  As  for  them,  they  slew  His  Most 
Holy  Body  :  but  thou,  after  all  He  hath  done 
for  thee,  dost  thrust  Him  into  thy  polluted  soul. 
For  His  love,  it  was  not  enough  to  be  made 
man,  to  be  buffeted,  and  to  be  crucified  :  He 
hath  also  mingled  Himself  with  us,  by  making 
us  His  Body,  and  that  not  by  faith  only,  but 
verily  and  indeed."  ($th  lesson,  Sund.  in  Oct. 
C  C.}.  And  again:  "  Hither  let  there  draw 
nigh  none  brutal,  none  cruel,  none  merciless, 
in  good  sooth,  none  unclean.  I  speak  to  all 
that  take  that  Holy  Communion,  and  to 
you  also,  O  ye  that  do  administer  the  same. 
To  you  now  I  turn  my  speech,  to  warn  you  with 
how  great  care  that  Gift  is  to  be  given.  No 
slight  vengeance  is  that  which  awaiteth  you  if 
ye  admit  for  a  partaker  at  the  Lord's  table  the 
sinner  whose  guiltiness  ye  knew.  At  your 
hands  will  His  Blood  be  required.  If  a  man  be 
a  General,  a  Governor,  a  crowned  Monarch, 


58  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

yet,  if  he  come  there  unworthily,  forbid  him  ; 
thou  hast  greater  power  than  he.  .  .  .  And 
thou,  O  layman,  when  thou  seest  the  priest 
making  the  oblation,  think  not  that  He  which 
is  then  the  real  worker  is  such  a  priest  as  thou 
seest,  but  know  of  a  surety  that  it  is  Christ's 
unseen  Hand  which  is  stretched  out,  albeit 
unseen  by  thee."  ($th  lesson,  Mond.  in  Oct. 
C.  C.) 

If  anyone  receives  the  Holy  Communion  in 
venial  sin  only,  the  case  is  quite  different.  He 
is  not  then  a  rebel  and  an  enemy,  but  a  child  of 
God,  though,  perhaps,  encompassed  by  many 
faults.  He  still  has  on  his  soul  the  precious 
garment  of  grace,  though,  perhaps,  stained  by 
minor  transgressions,  and,  if  he  communicates 
lovingly  and  carefully,  the  Sacramental  grace 
bestowed,  will,  in  a  great  measure,  cleanse  him 
from  his  stains.  It  is  his  duty,  out  of  reverence 
and  love,  to  cleanse  his  soul  as  well  as  he  can 
from  past  sins  before  he  comes  to  our  Lord's 
table,  but  he  cannot  expect  to  be  quite  free  from 
sin  in  this  life,  and  he  must  not  wait  till  he 
thinks  he  is  entirely  worthy. 

St.  Cyril  of  Alexandria  tells  us  this  in  these 
words  :  "  As  for  ourselves,  if  we  would  win  life 
everlasting — if  we  would  that  the  Giver  of 
immortality  should  dwell  in  us — let  us  run 
freely  to  receive  this  blessing,  and  let  us  beware 
that  the  devil  succeed  not  in  laying  a  stumbling- 
block  in  our  way  in  the  shape  of  a  mistaken 
reverence.  Thou  rightly  sayest,  and  we  know 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  59 

well  how  it  is  written  :  '  Whosoever  shall  eat 
this  bread  and  drink  this  cup  of  the  Lord 
unworthily  .  .  .  eateth  and  drinketh  dam 
nation  to  himself.' 

"  I  therefore  examine  myself,  and  find  myself 
unworthy.  And  I  ask  thee  who  citest  these 
words  to  me,  who  shall  ever  be  found  worthy? 
When  wilt  thou  be  such  a  one  as  may  be  worthy 
to  be  offered  to  Christ?  If  by  sin  thou  art 
unworthy,  and  thou  ceasest  not  to  sin  (for,  as  the 
Psalmist  hath  it,  *  Who  can  understand  his 
errors?' — Ps.  xviii.  13),  then  shalt  thou  for  ever 
lack  this  means  of  life  and  sanctification." 
(&th  lesson,  Oct.  C.  C.) 

Venial  sins,  then,  do  not  prevent  us  from 
receiving  Holy  Communion,  but  we  are  never 
theless  bound  in  reverence  and  love  to  do  all 
that  we  can  to  free  ourselves  from  every  sin 
before  we  approach  the  Lord's  table.  "  He  that 
is  just,  let  him  be  justified  still  :  and  he  that  is 
holy,  let  him  be  sanctified  still"  (Ap.  xxii.  n). 
We  are  told  to  be  u  perfect  as  our  Heavenly 
Father  is  perfect  "  (St.  Matt.  v.  48) — by  which  is 
meant  that  we  must  try  to  free  ourselves  from 
every  stain  as  far  as  human  weakness  will 
allow. 

Every  sin,  however  slight  it  may  appear  in 
itself,  has  the  effect  of  diminishing  the  supply 
of  graces  given  by  the  sacraments.  If  I  may 
use  such  an  illustration,  a  handful  of  gravel 
amongst  the  wheels  of  the  most  powerful  steam 
engine  would  very  soon  stop  its  effective  work  : 


60  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

and  so  sin  of  any  kind  in  which  people  wilfully 
remain,  is  quite  enough  to  prevent  the  effective 
working  of  God's  grace  in  our  souls. 

When  we  are  to  approach  Holy  Communion, 
we  should  think  of  the  parable  in  which  the 
master  said  to  his  servant:  "  Go  out  quickly 
into  the  streets  and  lanes  of  the  city,  and  bring 
in  hither  the  poor  and  the  feeble,  the  blind  and 
the  lame"  (St.  Luke  xiv.  21).  We  are  those 
"  poor  and  feeble"  who  are  called  to  this  mar 
riage  feast.  We  can  fancy  how  anxiously  these 
poor  people  made  their  poor  preparations  for 
this  banquet  to  which  they  were  invited,  and 
most  of  all,  how  anxious  they  were  to  obtain 
the  wedding  garment,  which  was  able  to  cover 
all  their  deficiencies. 

We  have  been  speaking  of  venial  sins  as  if 
they  were  trifling  things  ;  and,  indeed,  you  do 
sometimes  hear  people  talking  of  "  small  sins," 
"trivial  offences,"  "  things  of  no  consequence," 
and  so  forth.  We  must  not,  however,  forget 
that  every  sin  is  a  most  serious  thing  ;  so  much 
so  that  every  Christian  ought  to  be  ready  to 
make  any  sacrifice  rather  than  commit  one  venial 
sin.  Every  sin,  however  small  it  may  appear 
to  men,  is  an  offence  against  the  great  Creator, 
and,  as  far  as  it  goes,  is  a  rebellion  against  God. 
It  is,  as  I  said  before,  only  the  imperfection  of 
our  human  nature  which  prevents  every  sin  from 
being  a  complete  rebellion.  It  can  never,  there 
fore,  be  lawful  to  commit  a  sin,  however  small  it 
may  appear.  You  may  not  commit  any  sin 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  61 


either  to  avoid  consequences,  however  serious 
those  consequences  may  be  ;  or  to  obtain  any 
good,  however  desirable.  You  may  not  sin, 
"  for  the  love  or  fear  of  anything  upon  earth." 

But  how  are  we  to  tell  which  sins  are  mortal 
and  which  venial  ?  This  question  opens  rather 
an  interesting  subject.  Someone  may  say  :  "  I 
have  looked  into  theological  books,  and  I  find 
one  thing  marked  as  a  mortal  and  another  as  a 
venial  sin  ;  whereas  I  cannot  see  so  great  a 
difference  between  the  acts.  You  say  that  the 
difference  between  mortal  and  venial  sin  is 
immense,  and  that  no  number  of  venial  sins 
makes  one  mortal  sin.  How  comes  it  that  the 
sinful  acts  appear  so  very  much  alike,  and  the 
boundary  between  them  so  little  marked?" 

The  answer  to  this  is  that,  in  fact,  every  sin 
stands  by  itself,  and  depends  for  its  guilt  upon 
the  exact  state  of  will  with  which  it  is  committed. 
If  a  man  really  has  the  will  to  commit  a  rebellion 
against  his  Creator,  then  it  is  a  mortal  sin. 
This  state  of  will  is  fully  known  only  to 
Almighty  God,  and  partially  known  to  the 
sinner  himself.  Other  people  can  only  guess 
from  external  circumstances  what  a  man's  will 
really  is.  When  theological  books  say  that  an 
act  is  a  mortal  sin,  it  means  that  it  is  a  mortal 
sin  supposing  it  to  be  done  with  the  dispositions 
of  mind  necessary  for  mortal  sin  ;  or,  in  other 
words,  that,  generally  speaking,  a  person  com 
mitting  this  act  is  guilty  of  a  mortal  sin.  From 
this  it  comes  that  it  is  quite  possible  to  perform 


62  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

an  act  in  itself  quite  unimportant  or  quite  lawful, 
with  such  dispositions  of  mind  and  will  as  to  be 
a  mortal  sin  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  an  act 
may  be  considered  by  all  theologians  as  grievous, 
and  yet  from  ignorance,  inadvertence,  and  so 
forth,  the  person  who  does  it  may  not  be  guilty 
of  any  sin  in  the  sight  of  God. 

In  practice,  therefore,  we  ought  to  do  our  best 
to  grieve  for  all  the  sins  which  occur  to  our 
minds,  without  considering  too  closely  whether 
they  are  mortal  or  venial,  about  which  we  cannot 
always  be  sure,  and  we  ought  to  include  in  our 
contrition  and  purpose  of  amendment  whatever 
other  sins  there  may  be  of  which  we  are  at  the 
moment  unconscious  ;  remembering  the  words 
of  the  Psalmist :  "Who  can  understand  sins? 
From  my  secret  sins  cleanse  me,  O  Lord  !  and 
from  those  of  others  spare  thy  servant  "  (Ps. 
xviii.  13). 

Now,  let  us  ask,  Why  does  the  Catechism  call 
being  free  from  mortal  sin  a  state  of  grace?  It 
is  perhaps  well  to  explain  the  two  meanings 
given  to  the  word  grace,  or,  rather,  the  two 
kinds  of  grace. 

The  Latin  word  gratia,  from  which  grace 
comes,  means  favour,  and  any  kind  of  favour 
given  by  God  may  reasonably  be  called  a  grace. 
So  we  sometimes  hear  of  health,  strength, 
beauty,  talent  and  so  forth  called  graces  of  God. 
In  religious  and  catechetical  books,  however, 
the  term  is  used  for  spiritual  favours  only.  In 
this  sense  we  may  say  that  there  are  two  kinds 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  63 


of  grace  which  are  perfectly  distinct.  The  first 
of  these  is  "  the  help  of  God."  St.  Paul  says  : 
"  By  the  grace  of  God  I  am  what  I  am,  and  His 
grace  in  me  has  not  been  made  void"  (i  Cor. 
xv.  10).  In  these  words,  he  evidently  means 
the  spiritual  assistance  of  God,  which  he  has 
power  to  use,  or  to  neglect.  This  kind  of  grace 
is  called  "  actual  "  grace,  because  it  is  required 
before  we  can  do  any  act  available  to  salvation. 
Our  Lord  says  :  "  Without  Me  you  can  do 
nothing  "  (St.  John  xv.  5),  and  all  the  good  we 
do  must  originate  in  this  helping  grace.  For  this 
reason  it  is  often  called  "preventing"  grace. 
"  Preventing"  grace  is  so  called  from  the  Latin 
word  which  means  "  going  before,"  because 
every  real  good  work  must  be  preceded  by  God's 
grace.  The  word  is  here  used  in  a  sense  quite 
different  from  the  ordinary  meaning  of  the  word 
"  prevent."  This  kind  of  grace  is  given  to  the 
good  and  to  the  bad.  Those  who  accept  it 
and  use  it  become  good  :  those  who  reject  it, 
or  in  whom,  as  St.  Paul  says,  "It  is  made 
void,"  remain  wicked  and  probably  become 
worse. 

This  grace  is  a  "passing"  grace,  which  is 
supplied  to  us  only  as  we  stand  in  need  of  it, 
and  is  a  kind  of  grace  containing  in  itself  a 
thousand  different  kinds  and  species.  We  may 
compare  it  to  a  bright  ray  of  the  sun,  which  is 
composed  of  a  number  of  different  colours.  In 
the  same  way,  a  thousand  different  kinds  of 
light,  assistance,  and  encouragement  which  we 


64  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

at    times    receive,    may   all    be    considered    as 
" actual  grace." 

Let  us  think  of  this  grace  as  the  hand  of  God 
stretched  out  to  help  us  whilst  we  are  making 
our  arduous  advance  up  to  the  Mount  of  God. 
How  hard  is  the  way,  how  difficult  the  ascent ! 
It  is  certain  that  we  could  not  make  one  step  of 
this  upward  journey  without  the  help  of  this 
loving  hand. 

The  other  kind  of  grace  is  of  an  entirely 
different  nature,  and  its  qualities  are  strongly 
contrasted. 

It  is  "the  friendship  of  God,"  and  it  is  called 
"habitual"  or  "  sanctifying  grace."  St.  Paul 
says  :  "  The  charity  of  God  is  poured  forth  in 
our  hearts,  by  the  Holy  Ghost  who  is  given  to 
us "  (Rom.  v.  5).  It  is  this  charity  which  is 
"  habitual  grace."  It  is,  indeed,  the  highest  of 
all  God's  gifts.  When  that  Royal  gift  is  be 
stowed  on  the  sinner,  he  is  at  once  purified  from 
his  sins  and  made  the  child  of  God.  This 
"  charity  of  God  "  and  grievous  sin  cannot  exist 
together.  "What  participation  hath  justice 
with  injustice?  or  what  fellowship  hath  light 
with  darkness,  and  what  concord  hath  Christ 
with  Belial?"  (2  Cor.  vi.  14,  15).  When 
sanctifying  grace  enters  the  soul,  mortal  sin  is 
destroyed  ;  when  mortal  sin  is  allowed  to  enter, 
the  grace  of  God  leaves  us. 

This  sanctifying  grace  is  called  "habitual," 
to  signify  the  way  in  which  it  acts  in  our  souls. 
It  is  like  a  dress  (habit2ts^}  with  which  the  soul  is 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  65 

clothed.  When  the  prodigal  son  returned  to 
his  father,  the  first  thing  was  to  clothe  him  with 
the  robe  of  a  son  :  "  Bring  quickly  the  first  robe 
and  put  it  on  him  "  (St.  Luke  xv.  22).  Again, 
let  us  take  the  parable  of  the  man  found  amongst 
the  guests,  "  not  having  on  the  wedding  gar 
ment"  (St.  Matt.  xxii.  12).  The  one  condition  for 
this  banquet  was  to  have  on  this  wedding 
garment.  The  Master  had  invited  the  poor, 
and  those  from  the  highways  and  hedges  :  they 
were  not  required  to  have  anything  of  their  own, 
but  this  garment — which  his  bounty,  no  doubt, 
had  supplied  for  those  who  chose  to  use  it — was 
essential. 

This  exactly  represents  the  garment  of  Divine 
grace.  Nothing  of  our  own  is  acceptable,  but 
we  must  be  clothed  with  that  glorious  garment 
purchased  by  the  Precious  Blood  of  our  Lord — 
the  garment  of  habitual  grace,  the  "  charity  ol 
God  poured  into  our  hearts  by  the  Holy  Spirit " 
(Rom.  v.  5). 

God's  Divine  grace  clothes  us  with  a  garment, 
but  it  is  not  like  an  earthly  garment  which 
covers  but  does  not  cleanse.  Habitual  grace 
sanctifies  as  well  as  adorns.  The  moment  any 
sinner  has  received  this  grace,  the  guilt  of  all 
the  mortal  sins  he  may  have  committed  is  at 
once  forgiven,  and  he  is  really  once  more  the 
child  of  God.  It  is  not  that  he  is  dressed  so  as 
to  resemble  God's  children,  but  he  is  actually 
admitted  into  that  glorious  company. 

"  Let  a  man  prove  himself."     We  have  now 

6 


66  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

to  consider  more  exactly  in  what  way  we  are  to 
prove  ourselves.  In  order  to  do  this  sufficiently, 
we  must  use  the  Sacrament  of  Penance,  which 
our  Lord  has  instituted  to  forgive  our  sins,  and 
to  enable  us  to  amend  our  lives. 

The  Holy  Eucharist  requires  the  greatest 
purity  of  conscience  to  which  we  can  attain,  and 
it  seems  almost  necessary  that  He  should  give 
us,  with  it,  another  Sacrament  to  enable  us  to 
make  the  necessary  purification.  Go  to  that 
table  of  the  last  Supper  and  see  how  our  Lord 
prepares  His  Apostles  for  that  First  Communion 
they  were  to  receive  at  His  hands.  He  laid 
aside  His  garments,  and  having  taken  a  towel 
began  to  wash  the  feet  of  His  disciples,  "and 
Peter  said  to  Him  :  Thou  shalt  never  wash  my 
feet.  Jesus  answered  him  :  If  I  wash  thee  not 
thou  shalt  have  no  part  with  me "  (St.  John 
xiii.  4). 

Can  anything  more  strongly  express  the 
absolute  need  of  some  special  means  of  puri 
fication  —  some  means  appointed  by  Christ 
Himself — before  men  could  be  admitted  to  such 
union  with  their  Creator  ?  The  Sacrament  of 
Penance  is,  then,  in  almost  all  cases,  the 
necessary  preparation  for  Holy  Communion. 
If  a  man  is  conscious  of  mortal  sin  it  is  abso 
lutely  necessary  under  pain  of  sacrilege  that  he 
should  make  a  good  confession.  It  may  be  said 
that  sins  can  be  forgiven,  without  the  Sacrament 
of  Penance  :  that  is  true,  but  the  Church  is  not 
contented  to  trust  to  this — considering  what  very 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  67 

bad  judges  we  generally  are  of  our  own  dis 
positions.  The  Council  of  Trent  laid  it  down 
most  positively  that  no  one,  conscious  of  having 
committed  a  grievous  sin,  should  venture  to 
receive  Holy  Communion  without  previous  con 
fession — "however  contrite  he  might  appear  to 
himself  to  be  for  his  sins  "  (Sess.  xiii.  cap.  7). 

But  suppose  him  not  to  be  conscious  of  any 
mortal  sin,  is  he  still  bound  to  go  to  confession 
before  receiving  Communion  ? 

To  this  we  may  answer  that,  as  a  general 
rule,  he  certainly  is  bound  ;  not  by  the  same 
imperative  law,  but  by  the  feeling  of  reverence 
he  ought  to  have  for  our  Lord  in  the  Holy 
Sacrament. 

Who  could  consider  himself  so  perfect  as  to 
require  no  special  purification  before  receiving 
our  Lord?  And  who  will  dare  to  substitute 
some  device  of  his  own  to  obtain  that  puri 
fication,  instead  of  making  use  of  the  means 
our  Lord  himself  has  appointed  ? 

Consider  what  care  men  take  when  they  are 
going  into  the  presence  of  an  earthly  sovereign. 
When  a  king  goes  to  visit  his  people,  immense 
preparations  are  made  ;  and  what  is  any  earthly 
sovereignty  in  comparison  to  the  visit  which 
our  Lord  pays  us  in  the  Blessed  Sacrament ! 
We  may  safely  say,  then,  that  anyone  receiving 
Holy  Communion  without  first  going  to  con 
fession  would  be  guilty  of  a  gross  irreverence. 
To  this,  however,  we  make  two  exceptions : 
first,  in  the  case  of  those  who  have  no  oppor- 


68  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

tunity  of  making  their  confession  ;  secondly, 
for  those  who  have  received  the  Sacrament  of 
Penance  a  short  time  previously.  For  instance, 
if  anyone  desired  to  receive  Holy  Communion 
two  or  three  times  a  week,  it  would  generally  be 
sufficient  to  go  to  confession  once,  supposing, 
that  is,  that  he  was  not  conscious  of  any  grievous 
sin. 

A  good  deal  has  been  said  about  "  compulsory 
Confession"  in  the  Catholic  Church  —  and  I 
rather  think  some  learned  Protestant  Divine 
lately  discovered  that  in  the  Church  there  were 
two  conflicting  ideas,  or  two  schools  of  doctrine 
on  this  subject.  Nothing  can  be  farther  from 
the  truth. 

In  one  sense,  certainly,  confession  is  not  com 
pulsory.  A  man  might,  if  he  chose,  go  very 
often  to  Holy  Communion  and  never  go  to 
confession  at  all.  A  hundred  people  might 
receive  Holy  Communion  in  my  church,  and  I 
might,  or  might  not,  know  that  twenty  of  them 
had  been  to  confession.  As  to  the  others  I 
know  nothing,  and  have  no  means  of  knowing. 
No  priest  would  ever  dream  of  asking  them, 
and  under  ordinary  circumstances  would  have 
no  right  to  do  so. 

In  another  sense,  however,  there  is  the  strict 
est  compulsion  :  that  is,  everybody  thoroughly 
understands  the  absolute  obligation  of  confession 
for  all  who  are  in  mortal  sin,  and  the  sort  of 
obligation  which  I  have  described  in  other 
cases. 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  69 

In  practice  certainly,  speaking  broadly,  no 
Catholic  ever  dreams  of  receiving  Holy  Com 
munion  without  confession.  Many,  unfortu 
nately  are  negligent  in  receiving  the  sacraments, 
and  people  sometimes  make  their  confessions 
with  more  or  less  imperfect  dispositions  ;  but  no 
one,  saint  or  sinner,  believes  that  he  is  at  liberty 
to  dispense  with  confession  before  Holy  Com 
munion,  except  in  the  circumstances  which  I 
have  already  explained. 

Protestants  sometimes  talk  about  ecclesiastical 
domination,  and  seem  to  think  that  the  laity  are 
domineered  over  by  the  clergy,  but  in  fact  there 
is  a  simple  and  intelligible  law  to  which  clergy 
and  laity  alike  submit,  because  they  acknow 
ledge  its  authority  and  see  its  reasonableness, 
and  there  is  abundant  room  for  individual 
freedom  of  action.  The  law  of  confession  before 
Holy  Communion,  for  instance,  applies  just  as 
strictly  to  the  clergy  as  to  the  laity.  Priests, 
bishops,  and  the  Pope  himself,  receive  the 
Sacrament  of  Penance  before  Holy  Communion 
just  as  regularly  as  lay  people  do. 

I  have  now  explained  what  St.  Paul  means 
by  "  let  a  man  prove  himself,"  and  in  the  next 
chapter,  I  will  consider  the  other  conditions  for 
a  Good  Communion. 


CHAPTER   IV. 


OUR  GUEST. — HOLY  COMMUNION  (continued). 

External  Reverence.—  The  Guardian  of  the  Treasure. — The 
Lawgiver  of  the  Ceremonial. — Fasting,  the  Law  of  the 
Church. — Ritualists  and  Fasting  Communion. — Moment 
at  which  to  receive. — Why  the  Bell  is  rung. — Where  and 
with  what  precautions  to  receive.  —  Dispositions  at 
moment  of  reception.  —  Thanksgiving.  —  Zacheus,  our 
example. — Direct  personal  prayer  of  Union. — Protestant 
fallacy. — Oblation. — Petition. — Language  of  Public  Wor 
ship. — Must  and  Ought. — Carelessness,  Scruples  and 
False  Humility. 

I  MUST  now  speak  of  the  other  conditions  laid 
down  in  the  Catechism.  We  must  be  "  in  a 
state  of  grace  and  fasting  from  midnight." 
This  last  is  a  very  strict  law,  and  dispensations 
are  very  seldom  given.  In  danger  of  death  the 
law  does  not  hold,  so  that  the  sick  man  is  not 
bound  to  fast  even  if  he  is  able  to  do  so. 

It  is  to  be  understood  that  there  are  two  kinds 
of  fasting  :  the  ecclesiastical  fast  and  the  natural 
fast.  The  ecclesiastical  fast  means  abstaining 
from  some  sorts  of  food  at  certain  hours,  as 
we  fast  and  abstain  during  Lent.  In  this  fast 
there  is  no  restriction  as  to  drink,  and  trifling 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  71 

things  do  not  break  the  fast.  The  natural  fast 
however  means  a  complete  abstinence  from 
everything  in  the  way  of  food,  drink,  or  medicine 
— and  it  is  broken  by  any  quantity,  however 
small,  taken  as  food. 

This  is  a  very  strict  rule  in  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  the  Ritualist  party  seem  to  consider 
it  as  a  matter  of  great  importance.  Now  let  us 
ask  :  Why  so?  Are  you  any  worse  in  the  sight 
of  God  after  you  have  had  your  breakfast?  If 
not,  why  should  you  make  it  a  reason  for 
abstaining  from  Holy  Communion?  Certainly 
the  Apostles  were  not  fasting  when  our  Lord 
gave  them  their  First  Communion  :  why  then 
should  we  fast  ? 

This  opens  to  us  an  interesting  point  of  con 
sideration.  When  our  Lord  established  the 
Holy  Eucharist,  and  left  it  as  a  permanent  gift 
to  men,  it  is  pretty  obvious  that  He  must  have 
entrusted  the  care  of  it  to  someone.  It  is  not 
conceivable  that  He  meant  each  individual  in 
the  crowd  to  treat  so  great  a  Sacrament  accord 
ing  to  his  own  whim  and  fancy.  The  Holy 
Eucharist,  then,  was  intrusted  not  to  one  man  or 
another,  but  to  the  guardianship  of  the  Catholic 
Church.  Nothing  but  a  society,  composed  of 
mortal  men,  indeed,  but,  in  its  corporate 
existence,  undying,  could  possibly  take  charge 
of  a  Sacrament  meant  to  last  "  all  days  to  the 
end  of  the  world."  The  care  of  the  Holy 
Eucharist,  then,  is  left  not  to  you,  or  to  me,  but 
to  the  Catholic  Church  ;  and  it  is  the  duty  of  the 


72  The   Treasure  of  the  Church. 

Catholic  Church  to  lay  down  such  rules,  and 
make  such  provisions  as  may  seem  necessary  to 
guard  the  Holy  Sacrament  from  irreverence,  and 
to  preserve  the  feeling  of  devotion  amongst 
men.  The  rites  and  ceremonial  which  the 
Church  ordains,  are,  in  themselves  and  of 
themselves  absolutely  unimportant,  but  the 
moment  they  are  ordained,  it  becomes  a  most 
important  duty  of  reverence  and  obedience  to 
observe  them. 

This  is  just  what  happens  amongst  men.  A 
great  review  is  to  be  held  in  presence  of  a 
sovereign.  The  general  directs  most  minutely 
the  uniform  the  men  are  to  wear,  the  positions 
they  are  to  assume,  and  the  evolutions  they  are 
to  practise.  He  might,  perhaps,  have  arranged 
this  in  three  or  four  ways,  which  would  have 
answered  the  purpose  quite  as  well  ;  but  the 
moment  his  orders  are  given,  there  is  no  further 
discretion — everyone  is  bound  to  obey  under 
very  severe  penalties. 

So  it  is  with  the  Church's  regulations.  In 
the  nature  of  things,  it  was  inevitable  that  some 
external  marks  of  reverence  should  be  shown 
towards  the  Blessed  Sacrament  by  those  who 
believed  in  the  Real  Presence ;— but  all  the 
external  forms  might  have  been  quite  different. 
It  is  the  fact  that  these  ceremonials  have  been 
ordered  by  the  Catholic  Church  which  gives 
them  their  importance,  and  nothing  else. 

We  say,  then,  that  we  receive  Holy  Communion 
fasting,  simply  and  solely  because  the  Church 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  73 

so  directs  : — and  this  same  answer  applies  to  all 
the  ceremonial  which  the  Church  uses.  We 
are  delighted  to  hear  of  the  efforts  made  by 
Ritualistic  clergy  to  introduce  fasting  Com 
munion,  because  it  seems  to  indicate  a  growing 
devotion  to  the  Real  Presence,  but  we  cannot  but 
say  that  their  position  seems  to  us  to  be  utterly 
illogical.  The  Church  of  England  certainly 
does  not  oblige  people  to  receive  Holy  Com 
munion  fasting  ;  if  there  ever  was  such  a  custom, 
it  has  been  obsolete  for  some  centuries.  If, 
therefore,  fasting  is  made  a  matter  of  obligation, 
it  is  not  because  it  is  enjoined  by  Ecclesiastical 
Authority,  but  because  the  thing  appears  to 
them  important  in  itself — which,  to  us,  seems 
absurd.  These  worthy  men  can  hardly  found 
their  practice  on  the  authority  of  the  Roman 
Church,  considering  that  in  so  many  much 
more  important  things  they  completely  dis 
regard  the  authority  of  that  same  Church. 

It  is  the  duty  of  everyone  carefully  to  carry 
out  whatever  the  Church  has  ordained,  out 
of  reverence  to  the  Blessed  Sacrament.  Nothing 
can  be  trivial  which  is  commanded  for  such  an 
end.  At  the  same  time  we  ought  not  to  go 
beyond  the  Church's  directions.  It  might  be 
supposed  that  no  external  reverence  and  care 
for  the  Blessed  Sacrament  could  be  too  great, 
but  that  is  not  so.  An  unreasonable  and 
excessive  external  devotion  might  very  easily 
interfere  with  the  objects  for  which  our  Lord 
instituted  the  Sacrament.  The  Jansenists  re- 


74  The   Treasure  of  the  Church. 

quired  an  exaggerated  degree  of  preparation  for 
receiving  Holy  Communion — so  that  men  were 
to  a  great  extent  kept  away  from  the  Holy 
Sacrament.  The  Church  lays  down  very  care 
fully  what  precautions  should  be  taken  to  avoid 
accidents  to  the  Sacred  Species  :  if  you  were  to 
go  beyond  those  it  would  soon  cease  to  be  rever 
ence  and  degenerate  into  distrust — as  if  you 
thought  our  Lord  needed  your  precautions. 
Moreover,  your  extra  precaution  probably  would 
cause  endless  and  dangerous  scruples.  Again 
the  Church  is  most  anxious  that  all  should 
approach  this  Sacrament  in  excellent  dis 
positions,  but  if  you  ask  for  more  than  the 
Church  requires,  you  will  certainly  keep  men 
away  from  the  Sacraments.  As  an  example  of 
this,  a  story  is  told  of  a  worthy  Jansenist  who 
thanked  God  that  no  one  had  made  a  bad  Com 
munion  for  many  months,  because  no  one  had 
communicated  at  all  during  that  time. 

"  The  Sacraments  were  made  for  man  and  not 
man  for  the  Sacraments,"  and  therefore  the 
Church's  work  is  not  to  allow  anything  that  will 
prevent  them  from  being  used  as  freely  as  Our 
Lord  intended  them  to  be  used. 

I  will  now  speak  of  the  way  in  which  we  are 
to  receive  Holy  Communion.  The  natural  time 
for  the  laity  to  receive  it  is  at  the  Mass,  immedi 
ately  after  the  priest's  Communion.  The  priest 
himself  when  he  celebrates  always  receives  the 
Blessed  Sacrament  for  the  completion  of  the 
Holy  Sacrifice.  The  Consecration  and  Com- 


The   Treasure  of  the  Church.  75 

munion  are  the  parts  of  the  Mass  essentially 
necessary  for  the  completion  of  the  Sacrifice. 
After  receiving,  the  priest  gives  Holy  Com 
munion  to  all  the  faithful  who  come  up  to  the 
altar.  It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that 
this  usage  cannot  always  be  carried  out.  When 
there  is  a  crowd  of  communicants  the  Mass 
would  be  unreasonably  prolonged  if  they  all 
received  in  the  course  of  it.  For  example  :  in 
some  of  the  large  churches  abroad,  on  great 
occasions,  thousands  of  people  come  to  Holy 
Communion.  If  they  were  to  receive  during 
Mass,  the  celebration  might  be  prolonged  for 
hours.  In  large  churches,  therefore,  Communion 
is  very  often  given,  not  at  Mass,  but  before  or 
after  it,  or  indeed  at  any  other  suitable  time. 

Those  who  intend  to  communicate  at  the  Mass 
come  up  to  the  altar  when  the  bell  rings  for  the 
"  Domine,  non  sum  dignus."  It  may  be  well 
here  to  say  a  word  about  the  ringing  of  the  bell, 
the  changes  of  position,  and  the  things  notice 
able  about  the  Mass. 

The  bell  is  rung  at  different  times  to  let  the 
congregation  know  the  part  of  the  Mass  in 
which  the  priest  is  engaged.  In  a  large  church 
a  great  many  of  those  present  cannot  hear  what 
the  priest  is  saying.  It  is  not  in  the  least  neces 
sary  that  they  should  do  so.  They  come  to 
Mass  to  join  in  the  great  action  which  the  priest 
is  doing,  not  to  listen  to  the  prayers  he  is 
saying. 

"And    all  the  multitude  of    the   people   was 


76  TJie  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

praying  without  at  the  hour  of  incense  . 
and  they  wondered  that  he  tarried  so  long  in 
the  temple  "  (St.  Luke  i.  10).  The  people  out 
side  were  joining  with  Zachary  in  the  offering  of 
incense,  and  they  could  do  so  quite  well,  though 
they  could  not  see  him  nor  hear  him.  So  it  is  at 
the  Mass  ;  a  vast  multitude  may  join  in  offering 
the  sacrifice,  though  but  a  few  are  able  to  dis 
tinguish  the  words  said.  The  bell  ringing  at 
intervals  tells  them  precisely  what  the  priest  is 
doing.  The  same  object  is  obtained  by  the 
different  positions  of  the  book  on  the  altar. 
Anyone  coming  in  whilst  Mass  is  going  on  can 
tell  in  a  moment  the  part  of  the  Mass  to  which 
the  priest  has  arrived. 

The  bell  rings  four  times  during  the  Mass. 
The  first  occasion  is  the  "  Sanctus  "  —  the  end, 
that  is,  of  the  Preface.  This  marks  the  begin 
ning  of  the  "  Canon,"  or  more  solemn  part  of 
the  Mass.  The  earlier  part,  which  is  the  pre 
paration  for  the  sacrifice,  used  to  be  called  in 
early  ages  the  "  Mass  of  Catechumens,"  because 
those  who  had  not  yet  been  baptised  were  not 
allowed  to  be  present  at  the  more  solemn  part  of 
the  sacrifice.  The  Canon  contains  the  Consecra 
tion  and  Communion,  and  is  the  essential  part 
of  the  Mass.  The  bell  is  meant  to  call  the 
attention  of  those  present,  who  are  perhaps 
engaged  in  other  devotions,  that  they  may  be 
ready  for  the  Consecration  which  is  near  at 
hand. 

The  next  bell,  sometimes  called  the  "warning 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  77 

bell,"  is  immediately  before  the  Consecration, 
and  people  then  usually  lay  aside  their  books 
and  bow  their  heads  in  readiness  for  the  Con 
secration.  At  the  Consecration  itself,  the  bell 
rings  three  times  for  the  Consecration  of  the 
Host,  and  three  times  for  the  Consecration  of 
the  Chalice.  These  bells  call  on  us  first  to  adore 
our  Lord,  present  under  the  form  of  bread,  and 
then  to  adore  Him  present,  for  the  completion 
of  the  sacrifice,  under  the  form  of  wine  in  the 
chalice. 

The  fourth  time  the  bell  rings  is  at  the 
"  Domine,  non  sum  dignus."  This  announces 
that  the  priest  is  about  to  receive  the  Holy 
Sacrament,  and  that  all  who  would  communicate 
must  approach  the  altar,  whilst  at  the  same  time 
it  admonishes  all  others  to  join  by  a  spiritual 
communion  in  what  the  priest  is  doing. 

I  ought,  however,  to  notice  that  the  times  of 
ringing  the  bells  at  Mass  are  different  in  different 
places  ;  indeed,  it  is  said  that  our  custom  of 
ringing  the  bell  at  the  "  Domine,  non  sum 
dignus  "  is  not  correct,  or,  at  any  rate,  not  usual 
in  other  countries.  It  is,  however,  a  very  con 
venient  custom,  as  it  tells  communicants  exactly 
when  they  should  leave  their  places. 

Those  about  to  communicate  kneel  at  the  altar 
rails,  and  hold  before  them  the  communion 
cloth.  The  object  of  this  is  to  prevent  the 
Blessed  Sacrament  from  falling  accidentally  to 
the  ground.  These  precautions  are  taken,  as  I 
before  said,  out  of  reverence.  It  would  be 


78  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

grievous  and  irreverent  in  the  eyes  of  all  Chris 
tians  should  such  an  accident  happen,  although 
we  understand  perfectly  that  no  mischance  can, 
in  the  slightest  degree,  affect  the  glorious  body 
of  our  Lord.  In  some  churches,  instead  of  this 
cloth,  it  is  usual  to  hand  from  one  to  the  other  a 
small  card  covered  with  a  corporal  for  the  same 
purpose.  The  attendant,  or  "server,"  recites 
the  "  Confiteor  "  in  the  name  of  the  communi 
cants.  You  are  supposed  to  have  done  your 
best  in  the  way  of  preparation,  and  yet,  when 
you  are  going  to  receive  our  Lord,  you  cannot 
but  acknowledge  yourself  a  sinner,  and  an  un 
profitable  servant,  and  wish,  if  possible,  once 
more  to  purify  your  soul.  The  priest  makes  the 
same  act  of  humiliation  at  the  beginning  of 
Mass.  He  is  to  stand  at  the  altar,  in  a  sense,  as 
representing  our  Lord  and  sharing  in  His  priest 
hood  ;  but,  before  venturing  to  go  up  to  the 
altar,  he  confesses  himself  a  sinner  by  thought, 
word  and  deed,  and  asks  for  forgiveness. 

After  the  words  of  humiliation  and  forgiveness 
the  priest  holds  up  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  with 
the  words,  4<  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  behold 
Him  Who  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world  " 
(St.  John  i.  29).  We  can  fancy  to  ourselves  the 
rapture  and  reverence  with  which  St.  John  the 
Baptist  pronounced  these  words,  and  the  pro 
found  humility  with  which  he  declared  himself 
unworthy  to  loose  even  the  latchet  of  His  shoe. 
Then  follow  again  the  words  "Domine,  non  sum 
dignus"-— "  Lord,  I  am  not  worthy  that  Thou 


The   Treasure  of  the   Church.  79 

shouldst  enter  under  my  roof,  but  only  say 
the  word  and  my  soul  shall  be  healed  "  (cf. 
St.  Matt.  viii.  8).  How  beautifully  has  the  Church 
adapted  these  words  from  those  of  the  centurion 
in  the  Gospel,  and  how  beautifully  do  they 
express  our  feelings  when  we  are  going  to 
receive  Holy  Communion  ! 

The  priest  then  carries  down  the  Blessed 
Sacrament,  and  places  it  on  the  tongue  of  each 
communicant,  with  the  words,  "The  Body  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  preserve  thy  soul  to  ever 
lasting  life."  Eternal  life,  that  is  the  one  great 
end.  "He  that  eateth  My  flesh  and  drinketh 
My  blood  hath  everlasting  life,  and  I  will  raise 
him  up  at  the  last  day  "  (St.  John  vi.  55). 

But,  it  may  be  asked  why  the  faithful  are  not 
allowed  to  communicate  themselves  with  their 
own  hands  ?  To  this  we  must  give  exactly  the 
same  reply  as  before.  The  Catholic  Church  has 
the  charge  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  and,  as  a 
precaution  against  irreverence,  has  decreed  that 
no  one  shall  presume  to  touch  the  Holy  Eucharist 
except  its  appointed  minister.  When  a  priest  is 
ordained,  his  hands  are  consecrated  with  the 
holy  oil  because  it  is  his  duty  and  his  privilege 
to  take  in  his  hand  the  Body  of  our  Lord. 

When  once  this  law  has  been  made  by  the 
Church  out  of  reverence,  it  would  be  a  great  sin 
to  violate  it,  although  in  the  nature  of  things 
there  is  no  reason  why  the  laity  should  not  touch 
the  sacred  species  as  well  as  the  clergy. 

Now   let   us  consider   how   the   communicant 


80  The   Treasure  of  the  Church. 

should  act.  He  should,  of  course,  join  heartily 
in  the  Confession  and  absolution,  and  bow  down 
very  humbly  before  that  Lamb  of  God  who  is 
presented  to  him.  When  it  comes  to  his  turn  to 
receive,  however,  he  must  kneel  quite  erect  and 
be  quite  still,  that  the  priest  may  give  him  the 
Holy  Sacrament  without  mischance. 

This  is  all  easy,  but  with  what  inward  feelings 
is  he  to  receive  his  Lord?  "  Falling  down  they 
adored  Him,  and  opening  their  treasures  they 
offered  Him  gifts"  (St.  Matt.  ii.  n).  How  little 
is  all  that  we  can  offer  Him.  Think  how  the 
angels  cast  their  crowns  before  Him,  and  cry 
out  without  ceasing:  "  Holy,  holy,  holy  Lord 
God  of  Hosts  "  (Isai.  vi.  3).  Yet  it  has  pleased 
Him  to  ask  for  our  homage  and  our  praise : 
11  Out  of  the  mouths  of  infants  and  sucklings 
thou  hast  perfected  praise  "  (Ps.  viii.  3)  :  and, 
in  a  sense,  we  can  offer  what  they  cannot. 
They  see  Him  face  to  face  and  cannot  help 
adoring  and  praising  Him,  but  we  can  offer  a 
more  acceptable  homage  because  we  do  not  see, 
because  our  adoration  is  free  ;  we  can  give  it  or 
withhold  it.  "Because  thou  hast  seen  me, 
Thomas,  thou  hast  believed,  blessed  are  those 
who  have  not  seen  yet  have  believed " 
(St.  John  xx.  29). 

The  thanksgiving  after  Communion  is,  in  one 
sense,  the  most  important  part  of  our  work.  It 
is  the  gathering  in  of  the  harvest.  We  have 
tried  hard  to  prepare  ourselves,  but  if  we  do  not 
take  corresponding  pains  to  avail  ourselves  of 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  81 

the  great  gift  when  it  comes,  our  labours  will 
be  of  little  use.  When  the  husbandman  has 
toiled  sowing  the  seed  and  tending  his  crops,  he 
does  not  neglect  the  harvest  time.  "  They  that 
sow  in  tears  shall  reap  in  joy.  Going  they  went 
and  wept,  casting  their  seeds.  But  coming  they 
shall  come  with  joyfulness,  carrying  their 
sheaves."  (Ps.  cxxv.  5).  St.  John  Chrysostom 
says  :  "  When  we  come  back  from  that  table  we 
ought  to  be  like  so  many  lions,  breathing  fire, 
dreadful  to  the  devil.  Our  thoughts  ought  to  be 
consecrated  to  our  Great  Head,  and  on  the  love 
which  He  showeth  us "  ($th  lesson,  Saturday, 
Oct.  of  Corpus  Christi). 

It  is  a  great  scandal  to  see  people  very  shortly 
after  Communion,  directly  the  Mass  is  finished, 
going  away  to  their  ordinary  occupations  with 
very  little  thought  of  the  great  Guest  whom 
they  have  received.  We  ought  to  think  of  what 
our  Lord  said  to  Simon  the  Pharisee:  "  Dost 
thou  see  this  woman  ?  I  entered  into  thy  house 
and  thou  gavest  me  no  water  for  my  feet :  but  she 
with  tears  hath  washed  my  feet  and  with  her  hair 
hath  wiped  them.  Thou  gavest  me  no  kiss  ; 
but,  she,  since  she  came  in,  hath  not  ceased  to 
kiss  my  feet.  My  head  with  oil  thou  didst 
not  anoint,  but  she  with  ointment  hath  anointed 
my  feet.  Wherefore  I  say  to  thee,  many  sins 
are  forgiven  her  because  she  hath  loved  much  " 
(St.  Luke  vii.  44). 

Our  Lord  comes  to  us  with  abundant  treasures 
of  grace,  which  He  is  willing  to  bestow  on  us  in 

7 


82  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

proportion  to  our  capacity  ;  ought  we  not  to  say, 
as  Jacob  said  to  the  angel :  "  I  will  not  let  thee 
go,  except  thou  bless  me  "  (Gen.  xxxii.  26). 

I  will  conclude  what  I  have  to  say  on  pre 
paration  for  Holy  Communion  by  dwelling  on 
our  Lord's  visit  to  Zacheus,  which  seems  to  me 
to  present  an  excellent  model  to  all  who  are 
about  to  receive  the  Holy  Sacrament. 

Zacheus  was  burning  with  a  desire  to  see  our 
Lord,  and  so  climbed  up  into  a  tree.  "  Jesus  said 
to  him  :  Make  haste  and  come  down,  for  this  day 
I  must  abide  in  thy  house.  And  he  made 
haste  and  came  down  and  received  Him  with 
joy,  and  when  all  saw  it  they  murmured,  saying 
that  He  was  gone  to  be  a  guest  with  a  man  that 
was  a  sinner.  But  Zacheus  standing  said  to  the 
Lord  :  Behold,  Lord,  the  half  of  my  goods  I 
give  to  the  poor,  and  if  I  have  wronged  any  man 
of  anything  I  restore  him  four-fold.  Jesus  said 
to  him  :  This  day  is  salvation  come  to  this 
house  "  (St.  Luke  xix.  5). 

This  seems  to  present  a  wonderful  analogy  to 
the  Holy  Communion.  In  this  Sacrament  our 
Lord  calls  us  by  name  and  says  :  "  This  day 
must  I  abide  in  thy  house."  Zacheus  hastened 
home  and  prepared  a  feast  for  our  Lord.  We 
are  quite  sure  he  made  his  house  as  clean  as 
possible,  and  removed  everything  that  might  be 
offensive.  He  was  a  rich  man,  and  no  doubt  he 
brought  out  all  his  treasures,  his  gold,  his 
tapestry,  and  everything  he  had  that  was 
beautiful,  in  our  Lord's  honour.  This  is  just 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  83 

what  we  have  to  do.  We  must  be  diligent  in 
purifying  and  adorning  the  inward  house  of  our 
souls.  What  treasures  have  we  to  produce? 
Little  enough,  but  we  can  make  acts  of  many 
virtues.  We  can  express  our  faith  and  put  it 
into  burning  words  :  we  can  renew  our  hope  and 
excite  and  warm  up  our  love.  We  can  humble 
ourselves  and  think  how  little  we  are  before 
Him  ; — we  can  offer  Jiim  our  wills,  and  desire 
to  resign  them  to  His  divine  will.  All  these 
things  are  the  treasure  with  which  we  must 
adorn  our  souls. 

Again,  what  did  Zacheus  do  when  our  Lord 
actually  came  to  him  ?  We  are  quite  sure  that 
he  ministered  to  Him,  that  he  hung  on  his 
words,  and  never  for  one  moment  forgot  Him. 
If  he  had  turned  his  back  on  his  Guest,  and 
employed  himself  about  his  ordinary  affairs,  all 
the  preparations  he  had  made  would  have  been 
of  little  avail.  Without  personal  service,  all  his 
pretty  things  would  have  been  worthless.  The 
same  applies  to  us.  If  we  do  not  adore  and 
praise  and  bless  our  Lord  when  He  visits  us, 
He  will  not  be  pleased  with  us,  whatever  else 
we  may  have  done.  It  is  emphatically  the  time 
for  "  Communion  " — for  speaking  to  our  Lord 
and  listening  to  His  voice. 

The  prayers,  we  say,  ought,  on  such  occa 
sions,  to  be  our  own,  as  far  as  possible.  The 
prayers  we  find  in  books  are  very  beautiful,  but 
they  must  not  supersede  our  own  words.  We 
must  use  them  as  guides,  not  as  substitutes  . 


84  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

that  is,  we  must  endeavour  to  put  into  our  own 
language  the  burning  thoughts  which  they 
suggest.  We  may  be  quite  sure  that  words  of 
our  own  from  our  own  hearts  will  go  further 
with  our  Lord  than  any  book  words  however 
beautiful. 

The  very  idea  of  devotion  after  Communion 
is  that  of  union,  that  we  should  be  alone  with 
our  Lord — solus  cum  solo — and  united  with 
Him.  St.  John  Chrysostom  says:  "  That  this 
union  may  take  place  not  by  love  alone,  but 
verily  and  indeed,  we  ought  to  mingle  our  own 
with  His  flesh  ...  to  this  end  He  hath 
mingled  Himself  with  us,  and  infused  His  Body 
into  our  bodies  that  we  may  be  one  together, 
like  as  the  limbs  of  a  man  and  his  head  are  all 
of  one  body "  (^.th  lesson,  Saturday,  Oct.  of 
Corpus  Christi). 

This  close  and  direct  union  is  the  object  of 
all  the  prayers  suggested  to  us  as  thanksgiving 
after  Communion.  Some  Protestants  have  a 
foolish  notion  that  we  think  it  almost  pre 
sumption  to  speak  directly  to  our  Lord,  and 
that  we  consider  it  better  to  address  Him  in 
directly,  through  the  intercession  of  some  saint 
or  other.  If  they  would  ever  take  the  trouble 
to  look  for  themselves,  and  read  the  prayers 
before  and  after  Communion  in  any  language, 
that  idea  would  instantly  be  dispelled.  It  is 
impossible  for  any  prayers  to  be  more  direct 
and  personal.  The  same  remark  applies  to  all 
the  prayers  most  commonly  used  amongst 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  85 

Catholics  :  Morning  and  Night  prayers  ;  prayers 
at  Mass  ;  prayers  for  Confession  :  are  all  most 
directly  addressed  to  Almighty  God,  and  the 
Saints  are  scarcely  alluded  to  in  them  This 
applies  not  only  to  the  devotions  contained  in 
our  English  prayer  books,  but  to  those  in  the 
corresponding  books  in  French,  Italian,  German, 
Spanish  and  all  other  languages. 

At  the  time  of  Holy  Communion,  our  Lord 
seems  to  speak  to  us  in  the  words  of  the  psalm  : 
"  Hearken,  O  daughter,  and  see  and  incline 
thy  ear :  and  forget  thy  people  and  thy  father's 
house"  (Ps.  xliv.  n).  Shall  we,  by  our 
actions,  say  that  we  have  no  time  to  attend  to 
Him  ;  that  we  have  something  more  important 
to  do  than  to  converse  with  Him  ! 

There  is  one  point  remaining.  Zacheus  was 
not  contented  with  receiving  our  Lord  well  ;  he 
also  made  promises  of  amendment.  "  Half  of 
my  goods  will  I  give  to  the  poor."  He  was  not 
satisfied  without  making  some  offering  to  our 
Lord  suitable  to  the  occasion.  What  can  we 
offer?  I  think  that  each  one  knows  of  something 
which  he  could  offer  to  our  Lord.  There  is 
something  which  he  very  well  knows  our  Lord 
would  like  him  to  do.  There  is  some  point  of 
conduct  which  our  Lord  would  like  to  see 
corrected.  Let  us  then  at  Holy  Communion 
make  a  generous  offering,  and  not  be  contented 
with  words,  but  be  ready  to  do  something  in  our 
future  lives  which  we  think  will  be  pleasing 
to  God.  Then  shall  we  surely  hear  the  words 


86  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

which  Jesus  addressed  to  Zacheus  :  "  This  day 
is  salvation  come  to  this  house." 

In  the  prayer  books  you  will  find  prayers 
after  Communion,  which  are  substantially  the 
same  in  all  books.  First  come  Aspirations  after 
Communion,  that  is,  short  fervent  addresses  to 
our  Lord  :  "  I  have  Thee  now,  Who  hast  all 
things  ;  I  possess  thee  who  possesses!  all  things." 
"  Let  my  heart  be  fixed  on  Thee  alone  ;  let  me 
ever  repose  in  Thee,  where  alone  my  treasure 
is."  "  Let  my  soul,  O  Lord,  feel  the  sweetness 
of  Thy  presence."  "Heal  my  soul,  for  I  have 
sinned  against  Thee."  "  May  the  sweet  flame  of 
Thy  love  consume  my  soul. "  After  a  great  many 
such  aspirations  come  "  Acts  of  devotion,  praise, 
and  thanksgiving."  We  find  acts  of  adoration 
and  self-humiliation.  "  But  first  bow  down 
thyself  with  all  thy  powers  to  adore  the  sovereign 
Majesty  which  has  vouchsafed  to  come  to  visit 
thee."  "Annihilate  thyself  in  the  presence  of 
this  eternal,  immense,  infinite  Deity."  "Thou 
art  great,  O  Lord,  and  exceedingly  to  be  praised  : 
great  are  Thy  works,  and  of  Thy  wisdom  there 
is  no  end." 

After  such  acts  as  these  comes  "An  oblation 
after  Communion."  Our  Lord  gives  Himself  to 
us  ;  and  has  become  our  sacrifice,  and  we,  in 
turn,  offer  to  the  Eternal  Father  the  Precious 
Blood  which  He  has  given  to  us  ;  and,  with 
Him,  we  make  the  best  offering  we  can  of 
ourselves. 

"  Receive,    O    Holy    Father,    Almighty   and 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  87 

Everlasting  God,  this  Holy  and  Unspotted 
Victim,  which  I  here  offer  Thee,  in  union  with 
that  love  with  which  He  offered  Himself  to  Thee 
on  the  altar  of  the  cross." 

St.  Paul  says  of  our  Lord  :  "  He  continueth 
for  ever,  hath  an  everlasting  priesthood,  whereby 
He  is  able  also  to  save  for  ever  them  that  come  to 
God  by  Him  :  always  living  to  make  intercession 
for  us  "  (Heb.  vii.  24).  When  our  Lord  visits 
us  in  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  it  is  not  only  to  be 
our  food,  but  to  be  the  most  acceptable  offering 
which  we  can  present  to  the  Eternal  Father. 

After  this  "  oblation"  we  naturally  find  a 
number  of  petitions.  We  may  think  we  have 
our  Lord  speaking  to  us,  as  He  did  to  the  blind 
man  by  the  wayside,  and  saying:  "  What  wilt 
thou  that  I  do  to  thee?"  (St.  Luke  xviii.  41). 
Have  we  nothing  to  say  in  answer?  Surely  we 
must  put  before  Him  all  our  wants,  spiritual 
and  temporal.  We  need  not  be  afraid  to  ask,— 
since  his  hands  are  full  of  good  things.  We 
must  pray  for  ourselves,  for  all  the  virtues  we 
want,  and  all  the  vices  we  have  to  conquer.  We 
must  pray  for  the  Church  of  God,  and  for  all 
the  needs  of  our  Holy  Father  the  Pope.  In 
St.  Peter's  time,  "  prayer  was  made  without 
ceasing  by  the  Church  unto  God  for  Him" 
(Acts  xii.  5) — and  so  it  ought  to  be  made  with 
out  ceasing  for  his  successor.  We  have  also  to 
pray  for  many  others,  in  such  words  as  these  : 
"  Have  mercy  also  on  my  parents,  friends  and 
benefactors,  and  for  all  those  for  whom  I  am  in 


88  The   Treasure  of  the  Church. 

any  way  bound  to  pray,  that  we  may  all  love 
Thee  and  faithfully  serve  Thee." 

We  may  add  to  these  prayers  many  of  the 
beautiful  prayers  of  the  Church — the  Benedicite, 
the  Te  Deum,  the  Adoro  Te  Devote,  the  Anima 
C/iristi — all  of  which  are  to  be  found,  gener 
ally  in  Latin  and  English,  in  most  prayer 
books. 

I  have  dwelt  on  these  prayers  at  some  length, 
although  they  are  to  be  found  everywhere, 
because  they  show  the  tone  of  the  Catholic 
Church  in  speaking  to  Our  Lord,  and  there  is 
nothing  which  brings  out  the  doctrine  of  the 
Catholic  Church  more  clearly  than  the  language 
of  her  devotions.  As  Pius  IX.  says  in  his 
decree  about  the  Immaculate  Conception  :  "  The 
language  used  in  public  worship  is  the  necessary 
offspring  of  the  teaching  which  it  expresseth, 
and  the  former  can  have  no  safety  unless  the 
latter  be  settled  "  (^.th  lesson,  $th  day  in  Oct. 
Immac.  Cone.) 

From  these  different  devotions  we  can  easily 
select  materials  for  the  quarter  of  an  hour's 
thanksgiving  which  we  ought  always  to  make 
after  Communion. 

I  must  now  pause  to  consider  how  often  and 
at  what  times  Christians  are  bound  to  receive 
the  Holy  Sacrament.  It  is  a  matter  of  absolute 
obligation  to  receive  it,  as  the  catechism  tells  us, 
"  once  a  year,  and  that  at  Easter."  This 
requires  explanation.  The  time  of  fulfilling  the 
"  Paschal  Precept"  varies  in  different  places. 


The  Treasure,  of  the  Church.  89 

When  the  facilities  for  receiving  Holy  Com 
munion  are  great,  the  time  is  shorter ;  when 
the  clergy  are  few,  and  the  churches  at  greater 
distance,  the  time  is  extended.  With  us  it  is 
from  Ash  Wednesday  to  Low  Sunday — from 
the  beginning  of  Lent  till  the  Sunday  after 
Easter.  In  the  course  of  these  fifty-four  days, 
everyone  is  bound  to  communicate  under  pain 
of  mortal  sin,  unless  there  is  some  sufficient 
ground  of  excuse.  This  was  most  strictly  com 
manded  by  the  Church  in  the  4th  Council  of 
Lateran. 

Our  Lord  Himself  commanded  us  to  receive 
the  Blessed  Sacrament,  but  He  left  it  to  His 
Church  to  say  at  what  times  this  duty  was  to 
be  performed,  so  that  the  Church's  law  is  but 
carrying  out  in  detail  what  Christ  ordained. 
If  anyone  neglects  to  receive  Holy  Communion 
at  the  proper  time,  he  commits  a  great  sin,  but 
he  is  still  bound  by  the  law.  If  you  were  to 
neglect  to  hear  Mass  on  Sunday,  you  would  not 
be  obliged  to  hear  Mass  the  next  day  ;  but  with 
the  precept  of  Easter  Communion  it  is  different. 
You  are  bound  to  receive  as  soon  as  possible 
afterwards. 

We  are  also  bound  to  receive  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  when  we  are  in  danger  of  death— 
as  Viaticum  —  if  we  are  able  to  do  so,  in 
order  to  make  a  fitting  preparation  for  our 
last  end. 

But  now  let  us  consider  how  often  people 
ought  id  receive  Holy  Communion.  The  Church 


90  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 


obliges  us  to  receive  at  Easter,  not  as  if  that 
were  enough,  but  that  we  may  not  be  able  to 
excuse  ourselves  by  saying  that  no  particular 
time  is  appointed. 

The  Blessed  Sacrament  is  to  be  our  food, 
and  the  very  idea  of  food  implies  that  it  must 
be  taken  frequently  and  at  regular  intervals,  if 
it  is  to  do  us  much  good.  Each  one,  therefore, 
ought  to  consider  how  often  his  own  spiritual 
condition,  and  the  circumstances  in  which  he  is 
placed,  make  it  expedient  for  him  to  approach 
our  Lord's  Holy  Table.  What  would  be  often 
enough  for  some  people,  certainly  would  not  be 
sufficient  for  others.  You  may,  however,  say 
that  for  most  people  it  is  desirable  to  come  to 
the  Sacraments  once  a  month.  Many  people 
ought  to  go  much  more  frequently  ;  for  example, 
to  go  to  Communion  on  Sundays  and  holidays. 
Even  that,  however,  is  hardly  called  frequent 
Communion,  and  there  are  many  whose  spiritual 
condition  makes  it  desirable  to  receive  several 
times  in  the  week,  or  even  every  day.  In  this 
matter  everyone  ought  to  be  guided  by  the 
advice  of  his  confessor. 

Now  what  are  the  reasons  that  keep  people 
away?  With  many  it  is  simple  carelessness. 
They  are  not  in  earnest  in  their  religion,  and  do 
not  want  to  love  and  serve  God  any  better. 
They  grudge  the  time  and  trouble  which  the 
sacraments  involve,  and  want  to  do  as  little  for 
Almighty  God  as  they  possibly  can.  Such 
people  are  in  a  very  sad  state,  and  it  is  only  the 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  91 

special   mercy  of  God  if  they  do   not  fall  away 
altogether. 

Many,  however,  are  kept  away  by  scruples. 
They  are  not  content  with  observing  the  rules 
and  taking  the  precautions  the  Church  has 
ordered,  but  they  have  a  number  of  little  regula 
tions  and  scruples  of  their  own.  They  are 
troubled  about  the  fasting  required,  and  are 
always  fancying  that  they  have  broken  their 
fast  in  half-a-dozen  impossible  ways.  Again, 
they  are  unreasonably  afraid  of  accidents  and 
irreverences  which  they  think  may  happen  to  the 
Holy  Sacrament,  forgetting  that  their  business 
is  to  do  what  the  Church  tells  them  and  no  more. 
Such  scrupulousness,  as  I  have  before  said,  is 
very  apt  to  degenerate  into  want  of  confidence 
and  distrust. 

Some,  again,  keep  away  because  they  do  not 
think  themselves  sufficiently  devout.  They  do 
not  feel  nearly  so  much  devotion  at  the  time  of 
Communion  as  they  would  like  to  feel,  and, 
therefore,  are  afraid  to  approach.  These  people 
should  remember  that  they  are  not  to  receive 
Holy  Communion  because  they  are  saints,  but 
because  they  want  to  become  a  little  better  in 
the  sight  of  God,  and  to  do  their  duty  devoutly 
to  Him.  They  should  also  remember  that 
sensible  devotion — that  is,  a  feeling  of  fervour — 
is  by  no  means  necessary  for  a  good  Communion  : 
you  may  please  God,  and  receive  much  grace 
although  you  feel  very  little  of  this  fervour. 
Such  feelings  are  a  good  deal  a  matter  of  natural 


92  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

temperament,  and  our  Lord  has  never  promised 
to  work  visible  miracles  in  the  Holy  Sacrament. 
To  do  so  would  be  contrary  to  the  very  idea  of 
this  sacrament,  which  was  to  be  a  standing 
miracle,  indeed,  but  not  one  manifest  to  our 
senses.  Even  the  saints,  with  all  their  diligence 
in  preparing  for  Holy  Communion,  were  con 
stantly  tried  by  seasons  of  dryness  and  coldness. 
This  comes  sometimes  from  natural  causes, 
health  and  external  circumstances,  and  some 
times  as  a  direct  trial  sent  by  God.  If  you 
persevere,  in  spite  of  this  dryness  and  coldness, 
and  want  of  the  feeling  of  devotion,  your  Com 
munion  will,  very  likely,  be  much  more  accept 
able  to  God  than  if  you  abounded  in  tenderness 
and  spiritual  consolation.  By  receiving  Holy 
Communion  diligently  in  such  a  case,  it  is  clear 
that  you  are  doing  so  to  please  God,  and  not  to 
please  yourself;  and  no  doubt,  in  due  season, 
the  cloud  will  pass  away,  and  spiritual  consola 
tion  will  return  to  you. 

Do  not,  then,  allow  either  carelessness  or  false 
humility,  or  scruples  of  your  own  invention,  or 
fear  of  coldness  and  indevotion,  to  keep  you 
from  receiving  the  Holy  Sacrament  as  often  as 
you  ought  to  do  so,  considering  the  circum 
stances,  and  the  state  of  life  in  which  you  are 
placed. 

I  may  well  conclude  what  I  have  been  saying 
by  a  quotation  from  St.  Cyril  of  Alexandria  about 
the  Blessed  Sacrament : 

"  I    counsel    thee    to    betake    thee   to   godly 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  93 

thoughts,  and  to  live  carefully  and  holily,  and 
so  to  receive  that  blessing — a  blessing  which, 
believe  me,  doth  banish  not  death  only,  but  all 
diseases  likewise.  For  when  Christ  dwelleth  in 
us,  He  stilleth  the  law  of  death  in  our  members, 
which  warreth  against  the  law  of  our  mind.  He 
giveth  strength  to  godliness,  He  turneth  to  calm 
the  turbulent  surging  of  our  mind  ;  He  cureth 
them  that  are  sick  ;  He  raiseth  up  them  that  are 
fallen,  and,  like  the  good  shepherd  who  giveth 
his  life  for  the  sheep,  He  prevaileth  that  the 
sheep  perish  not "  (yth  lesson,  Oct.  day  of 
C.C.) 

So  says  St.  Cyril  in  the  fifth  century,  so  says 
the  Catholic  Church  in  the  twentieth  century. 


CHAPTER  V. 


THE    GIFT   AND    HOLY    SCRIPTURE — FAITH. 

A  doctrine  independent  of  Scripture  texts. — Old  Testament 
types. — Names  derived  from  Scriptural  sources. — New 
Testament  proofs. — The  promise. — The  fulfilment. — Sub 
sequent  references. — Test  of  our  faith  in  the  authority  of 
the  Church. — Lutheran  idea  of  Faith.— St.  Paul's  teach 
ing. — A  foundation. — A  gift. — The  worship  of  the  intellect. 
A  virtue. — To  be  guarded. — Hope,  the  worship  of  the 
desires.  — Charity,  the  worship  of  the  affections. 

I  HAVE  endeavoured  to  describe  the  dispositions 
necessary  for  receiving  the  Holy  Eucharist 
worthily,  and  the  sort  of  preparation  to  be  made 
before  approaching  that  Holy  Sacrament.  I 
want  now  to  treat  of  another  part  of  the  subject, 
that  is,  to  consider  all  that  the  Holy  Scripture 
tells  us  about  the  Blessed  Eucharist. 

In  the  first  place,  then,  it  is  obvious  that  the 
doctrine  of  the  Catholic  Church  does  not  depend 
on  any  passages  of  Scripture. 

The  Christian  faith  was  taught  to  men,  and  the 
doctrine  of  the  Real  Presence  was  taught  as 
part  of  it,  before  any  portion  of  the  New 
Testament  was  written.  It  is  absurd  to  suppose 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  95 

that  the  Apostles  taught  mankind  a  blank 
religion,  the  details  of  which  were  to  be  filled  up 
when  the  Evangelists  and  other  Scripture  writers 
could  find  time  to  write  down  what  Almighty 
God  had  given  them  to  say. 

The  Gospels  and  Epistles  were  written  to 
give  to  the  faithful  fuller  information  about  our 
Lord's  life  and  words,  to  explain  points  of 
doctrine  as  occasion  arose,  and  to  insist  on 
certain  duties ; — not  to  teach  a  system  of 
religious  faith,  inasmuch  as  the  Christian  Faith 
had  been  taught  before  the  Scriptures  were 
written.  In  other  words,  St.  Paul  tells  us  :  "  All 
Scripture,  inspired  of  God,  is  profitable  to  teach, 
to  reprove,  to  correct,  to  instruct  in  justice,  that 
the  man  of  God  may  be  perfect,  furnished  to 
every  good  work  "  (2  Tim.  iii.  16,  17). 

The  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Eucharist,  then,  like 
all  other  doctrines  of  the  Catholic  Church,  is 
independent  of  any  texts  of  Scripture  :  never 
theless  we  must  avail  ourselves  diligently  of  all 
that  the  Holy  Scripture  tells  us  about  this  great 
Sacrament.  Whither  shall  we  turn  for  light  and 
for  devotion  :  whither  for  good  thoughts  and 
fervent  aspirations,  if  not  to  these  divinely  in 
spired  words  ?  When  we  read  them,  may  we  not 
say,  as  the  disciples  at  Emmaus,  said  :  "  Was  not 
our  heart  burning  within  us,  whilst  He  spoke  in 
the  way  and  opened  to  us  the  Scriptures  ?  "  (St. 
Luke  xxiv.  32). 

Let  us  turn,  then,  to  the  Old  Testament,  and 
consider  those  things  which  are  taken  as  types 


96  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

and  figures,  or,  in  a  way,  forerunners  of  the 
Holy  Eucharist.  The  first  of  these  is  the  "  tree  of 
life  "  (Gen.  iii.  22).  He  who  should  eat  of  the 
fruit  of  this  tree  should  "live  for  ever."  And  our 
Lord  says:  "He  that  eateth  this  bread  shall  live 
for  ever  "  (St.  John  vi.  69).  "  He  that  eateth 
my  flesh  and  drinketh  my  blood  hath  everlasting 
life  and  I  will  raise  him  up  in  the  last  day  "  (St. 
John  vi.  55). 

Is  there  not  a  wonderful  correspondence 
between  this  mysterious  tree  of  life,  of  which  we 
are  told  so  little,  and  that  great  Sacrament  which 
occupies  so  grand  a  place  in  the  history  of  man's 
salvation  ! 

Melchisedech  and  his  sacrifice  (Gen.  xiv.  18) 
are  another  type.  Our  Lord  was  to  be  "  a  priest 
for  ever  according  to  the  order  of  Melchisedech  " 
(Ps.  civ.  4. — Heb.  vii.  17).  He  possesed  a  new 
priesthood,  and  the  sacrifice  which  He  instituted 
was  most  exactly  foreshadowed  by  that  sacrifice 
of  bread  and  wine  which  Melchisedech  offered. 
Without  this  fulfilment,  how  very  unintelligible 
would  this  ancient  sacrifice  be  to  us  ! 

Our  Lord  Himself  compares  this  Holy 
Eucharist  to  the  manna  :  "  Your  fathers  did  eat 
manna  and  are  dead  :  he  that  eateth  this  bread 
shall  live  for  ever  "  (St.  John  vi.  59).  What 
can  impress  on  us  more  vividly  the  qualities  of 
this  Divine  Sacrament?  It  is  emphatically  the 
bread  from  heaven  ;  not  in  the  inferior  way 
in  which  the  manna  came  down  (Ex.  vi.  13),  but 
in  the  highest  sense.  It  is,  as  the  Church  calls  it, 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  97 

in  the  Mass  :  "  The  holy  bread  of  eternal  life  and 
chalice  of  everlasting  salvation."  It  is  moreover 
given  to  us  for  the  very  same  reason  :  without  it  we 
should  never  be  able  to  find  our  way  across  the 
desert  of  this  world  to  the  promised  land,  our 
eternal  home.  To  the  manna  we  may  join  in 
idea  that  pillar  of  the  cloud  and  pillar  of  fire 
which  accompanied  the  Jews  on  their  journey 
(Exod.  xiii.  21) ;  or,  as  Saint  Paul  says  :  "  And 
all  drank  of  the  same  spiritual  drink  (and  they 
drank  of  the  spiritual  rock  that  followed  them, 
and  the  rock  was  Christ")  (i.  Cor.  x.  4).  This 
was  with  them  during  the  whole  of  their  journey, 
and  so  the  Blessed  Sacrament  is  with  us  from  the 
time  we  come  to  the  use  of  reason  till  we  receive 
it  on  our  death  beds.  Most  other  Sacraments  are 
only  for  special  occasions,  but  this  Sacrament  is, 
like  the  manna  and  the  spiritual  drink  of  the 
Jews  (Exod.  xvii.  6. — Num.  xx.  n),  given  for 
our  daily  needs. 

I  have  already  referred  to  another  special  type 
of  the  Holy  Sacrament  —  in  the  hearth-cake 
given  to  Elias — in  the  strength  of  which  food 
he  walked  "  forty  days  and  forty  nights,  unto 
the  mount  of  God,  Horeb  "  (3  Kings  xix.  8). 

By  dwelling  sometimes  on  these  types,  we 
can  fill  our  minds  with  good  thoughts  on  the 
characteristics  and  qualities  of  this  most  Holy 
Sacrament.  It  is  the  Sacrament  of  Sacraments. 
All  Sacraments  are  the  channels  of  God's  grace, 
but  in  this  Sacrament  we  have  not  merely  a 
channel  of  grace,  but  the  very  fountainhead 

8 


98  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

itself.  "  You  shall  draw  waters  with  joy  out 
of  the  Saviour's  fountains  "  (Is.  xii.  3).  Or  as 
our  Lord  Himself  puts  it :  "If  thou  didst  know 
the  gift  of  God,  and  who  he  is  that  saith  to  thee, 
Give  me  to  drink,  thou  perhaps  wouldst  have 
asked  of  him,  and  he  would  have  given  thee 
living  water"  (St.  John  iv.  10). 

Of  the  different  names  given  to  the  Holy 
Eucharist,  the  one  most  commonly  used  amongst 
Catholics  is  the  "  Blessed  Sacrament."  We 
speak,  for  instance,  of  "Visits  to  the  Blessed 
Sacrament,"  of  "Benediction  of  the  Blessed 
Sacrament,"  and  so  forth.  Nothing  sounds 
colder  or  more  irreverent  to  Catholic  ears  than  to 
call  the  Holy  Eucharist,  "the  Sacrament." 

The  name  given  It  in  the  catechisms,  and 
theological  books  generally,  is  the  "Holy 
Eucharist"  The  meaning  of  this  is  "thanks 
giving,"  and  this  name  is  no  doubt  given 
because,  as  we  are  told,  "the  Lord  Jesus,  the 
same  night  in  which  He  was  betrayed,  took 
bread,  and  giving  thanks,  broke  and  said  :  .  .  . 
This  is  my  Body"  (i  Cor.  xi.  23-24).  The 
Eucharistic  sacrifice  is  given  to  us  as  the  Great 
Sacrifice  of  thanksgiving,  which  we  can  offer 
to  Almighty  God  in  return  for  all  His  goodness. 
"What  shall  I  render  to  the  Lord  for  all  the 
things  which  He  hath  given  me?  I  will  take  the 
chalice  of  salvation  and  will  call  upon  the  name 
of  the  Lord"  (Ps.  cxv.  12-13). 

We  have  nothing  of  our  own  to  give,  so  our 
Lord  has  left  us  this  most  precious  offering  by 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  99 

which  alone  we   pay  our   debt  of  gratitude    to 
Him. 

We  also  speak  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament  as 
the  "Holy  Communion"  and  this,  because  in  no 
other  way  can  we  be  so  intimately  united  to 
our  Lord.  It  is  the  closest  union  which  man 
can  have  with  his  Creator  on  this  earth.  It 
unites  us,  moreover,  not  only  with  our  Lord, 
but  by  Him  with  all  His  whole  Church.  "  We 
being  many,  are  one  body  in  Christ,  and  every 
one  members  one  of  another "  (Rom.  xii.  5). 
"I  am  the  vine,  you  are  the  branches  "  (St. 
John  xv.  5).  We  are  united  with  each  other 
only  because  we  are  united  with  our  Lord. 
The  Blessed  Sacrament,  therefore,  is  the  great 
bond  of  union  amongst  Christians,  "  for  we 
being  many  are  one  bread,  one  body,  all  that 
partake  of  one  bread"  (i  Cor.  x.  17). 

During  the  Mass  we  speak  of  the '  ''Host. "  After 
the  Elevation,  the  priest  says:  "  We  offer  unto 
Thy  most  excellent  Majesty,  of  Thy  gifts  and 
grants,  a  pure  Host,  a  holy  Host,  an  immacu 
late  Host,  the  holy  Bread  of  eternal  life,  the 
Chalice  of  everlasting  salvation." 

This  word  "  Host  "  means  a  victim  (cf.  Kings, 
ix.  13),  a  sacrifice,  and  is,  therefore,  the  most 
appropriate  name  for  the  Blessed  Sacrament 
during  the  Mass.  We  use  it  also  every  day  at 
Benediction.  "  O  Salutaris  Hostia,  Quae  coeli 
pandis  ostium."  "  O  Saving  Victim  opening 
wide  the  gate  of  heaven  to  man  below." 

One  more  name  is  also  given  to  the  Blessed 


ioo  The   Treasure  of  the  Church, 

Sacrament.  When  we  receive  It  in  the  hour  of 
death  it  is  called  the  "  Viaticum,"  which  means 
the  food  which  we  take  in  preparation  for  our 
last  journey.  We  stand  in  terrible  need  of 
special  preparation  for  that  awful  journey.  The 
priest  is  about  to  say  to  us:  "  Go  forth,  O 
Christian  soul,  out  of  this  world."  Who  can 
help  us  in  that  hour  of  danger?  No  one  but 
our  Lord  Himself,  and  He  has  given  us  His 
Body  and  Blood  to  strengthen  us  on  our  way 
"  to  the  mount  of  God." 

By  dwelling  on  these  names  given  to  the 
Holy  Sacrament  we  may  form  to  ourselves 
some  idea  of  the  greatness  of  the  gift  which 
He  has  given  to  us,  and  the  all-important  part 
which  It  is  designed  to  have  in  the  work  of  our 
Salvation. 

I  must  now  speak  of  what  is  called  the  Scrip 
ture  proof  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Eucharist, 
and  although,  as  I  before  said,  the  teaching  of  the 
Church  is  quite  independent  of  the  Scriptures. 
That  teaching  was  delivered  to  mankind,  many 
years  before  the  New  Testament  was  written, 
and  therefore  cannot  be  in  any  way  dependent 
upon  it.  As  a  proof,  however,  it  is  as  strong 
as  words  can  make  it.  We  may  truly  say  that 
if  we  were  at  liberty  to  introduce  fresh  texts  of 
our  own  invention,  we  could  hardly  put  the 
doctrine  in  plainer  words  than  we  now  find. 

There  are  three  parts  to  this  Scripture  proof: 
(i)  The  promise,  (2)  the  fulfilment  of  this  promise, 
(3)  subsequent  reference  to  it.  The  promise  we 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  101 

find  in  St.  John's  gospel.  In  his  6th  chapter, 
the  Evangelist  gives  an  account  of  one  of  the 
two  miracles  which  especially  illustrate  the 
Holy  Eucharist,  the  feeding,  that  is,  of  the 
five  thousand  in  the  desert.  Here  we  seem  to 
have  before  our  eyes  that  wonder  of  the  Holy 
Eucharist,  by  which  our  Lord  constantly  multi 
plies  His  Body  and  Blood  so  as  to  be  food,  not 
for  five  thousand,  but  for  countless  millions. 
With  this  before  our  minds,  we  go  on  to  read 
of  the  spiritual  bread  of  which  this  is  the  type  ; 
that  bread  which  was  to  be  His  own  Body  and 
Blood.  "  I  am  the  living  bread,  which  came 
down  from  heaven.  If  any  man  eat  of  this  bread, 
he  shall  live  for  ever :  and  the  bread  that  I  will 
give,  is  my  flesh  for  the  life  of  the  world  "  (51-52). 

To  make  these  clear  words  clearer  still,  we 
have  the  words  of  the  Jews  which  show  plainly 
that  they  understood  Him  exactly  as  we  should 
have  done.  "  The  Jews,  therefore,  strove  among 
themselves,  saying  :  How  can  this  man  give  us 
His  flesh  to  eat  ?  Then  Jesus  said  to  them  : 
Amen,  amen,  I  say  unto  you  :  Except  you  eat 
the  flesh  of  the  Son  of  man  and  drink  His 
blood  you  shall  not  have  life  in  you.  He  that 
eateth  my  flesh  and  drinketh  my  blood  hath 
everlasting  life,  and  I  will  raise  him  up  in  the 
last  day.  For  my  flesh  is  meat  indeed  and  my 
blood  is  drink  indeed  "  (St.  John  vi.  53-56). 

Can  a  promise  be  made  more  plainly  or  more 
distinctly  ?  He  promises  that  He  will  give  them 
a  bread  which  shall  be  His  bodv  and  blood. 


io2  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

He  does  not  give  it,  but  promises  it.  He  does 
not  explain  how  it  is  to  be  done,  but  requires 
His  apostles  to  trust  Him  till  the  time  for  the 
performance  of  His  promise  arrives.  And  see 
how  Saint  Peter  expressed  this  supreme  trust : 
"  Lord,  to  whom  shall  we  go?  thou  hast  the 
words  of  eternal  life  "  (St.  John  vi.  69). 

Now  let  us  consider  how  this  promise  was 
fulfilled.  It  was  the  most  solemn  hour  of  our 
Lord's  life,  which  was  to  see  the  completion  of 
the  ancient  passover,  and  the  establishment  of  a 
new  Pasch. 

"  In  hac  mensa  novi  Regis, 
Novum  Pascha  novae  legis 
Phase  vetus  terminal. " 

"At  the  new  King's  holy  table, 
Doth  the  new  Law's  new  Passover 
To  the  old  Pasch  put  an  end." 

How  solemn  and  important  is  this  moment, 
the  moment  for  which  Jesus  had  yearned. 
"With  desire  have  I  desired  to  eat  this  Pasch 
with  you  before  I  suffer "  (St.  Luke  xxii. 

15). 

Here,  then,  with  the  shadow  of  His  passion 
hanging  over  Him,  He  gives  to  His  apostles 
the  bread  and  the  wine,  with  the  words  :  "  This 
is  my  Body,  this  is  my  Blood."  The  apostle 
who  told  us  of  the  promise  makes  no  mention 

*  From  Bishop  Bagshawe's  translation  of  the  "  LaudaSion." 
These  translations  are  always  most  literal  and  exact. 


The   Treasure  of  the  Church.  103 

of  its  fulfilment :  it  seems  as  if  our  Lord  chose 
to  give  us  independent  witnesses,  and,  accord 
ingly,  we  find  St.  Matthew,  St.  Mark,  and  St. 
Luke  all  describing  to  us,  in  similar  words,  the 
carrying  out  of  the  promise  of  which  St.  John 
had  told  us. 

But  this  is  not  enough.  For  the  completeness 
of  the  proof,  we  ought  to  know  how  the  apostles 
themselves  understood  these  words  and  acted  on 
them.  St.  Paul  is  writing  to  the  Corinthians 
long  after.  They  were  already  Christians  and 
had  received  from  him  all  the  doctrines  of  the 
Christian  Church,  and  he  is  writing  to  correct 
errors  in  practice,  and  only  incidentally  refers 
to  the  faith  which  had  been  taught  to  them. 
See  what  he  says  :  "  For  I  have  received  of 
the  Lord  that  which  I  also  delivered  unto  you, 
that  the  Lord  Jesus,  the  same  night  in  which  He 
was  betrayed,  took  bread,  and  giving  thanks, 
broke,  and  said  :  Take  ye  and  eat :  this  is  my 
body  which  shall  be  delivered  for  you  :  this  do 
for  the  commemoration  of  me.  .  .  .  Therefore 
whosoever  shall  eat  this  bread,  or  drink  the 
chalice  of  the  Lord  unworthily,  shall  be  guilty 
of  the  Body  and  of  the  Blood  of  the  Lord  " 
(i  Cor.  xi.  23-27). 

Here,  then,  we  have  the  promise  made  some 
time  before  the  Passion  :  we  have  the  literal 
fulfilment  of  it  ;  we  have  a  reference  made  long 
after  when  the  Holy  Eucharist  was  the  daily 
life  of  Christians.  All  say  precisely  the  same 
thing,  and  declare,  as  plainly  as  language  can 


104  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

express  it,  that  our  Lord  is  truly  and  really 
present.  Throughout,  there  is  not  a  hint  of  the 
possibility  of  any  figurative  sense.  For  com 
pleteness  we  may  add  St.  Paul's  beautiful 
words  :  "  The  chalice  of  benediction,  which  we 
bless,  is  it  not  the  communion  of  the  Blood  of 
Christ?  And  the  bread,  which  we  break,  is  it  not 
the  partaking  of  the  Body  of  the  Lord  ? " 
(i  Cor.  x.  16). 

The  triple  proof,  made  up  of  promise,  per 
formance,  and  subsequent  reference,  form  together 
as  strong  a  testimony  as  language  will  admit  of. 
It  is  much  stronger  than  anything  that  can  be 
deduced  from  a  single  passage.  It  is  compara 
tively  easy  to  misapprehend  the  meaning  of  one 
set  of  words  ;  but,  when  you  have  a  number  of 
passages,  quite  independent,  all  agreeing  in  the 
same  thing,  we  cannot  well  be  mistaken. 

This  Scripture  proof,  however,  strong  as  it  is, 
is  made  indefinitely  stronger,  if  we  go  to  history 
and  see  in  what  sense  our  Lord's  words  were, 
in  fact,  received  and  interpreted  by  the  early 
Fathers  and  by  the  Church.  The  difficulty 
which  presents  itself  in  showing  this  is  the  over 
whelming  abundance  of  proof.  A  writer,  who 
was  an  Anglican  clergyman  when  he  wrote, 
says  :  "  And  surely  there  is  no  point  on  which 
the  judgment  of  primitive  Christians  is  of  more 
value  than  this.  For  it  was  a  point  on  which 
their  judgment  was  entirely  unanimous.  On 
many  subjects  the  Church  was  early  rent  into 
parties  ;  so  that  at  times  it  was  difficult  to  say 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  105 

what  doctrine  was  predominant.  But  respecting 
the  Holy  Eucharist  there  existed  no  symptom  of 
disagreement  for  eight  centuries  and  a  half." 
(Archdeacon  Wilberforce  on  the  Holy  Eucharist, 
P^e  3.) 

I  have  already  spoken  of  the  ancient  liturgies, 
of  which,  according  to  the  same  author,  we  have 
sixty-two  of  the  Eastern,  and  at  least  eight  of 
the  Western  Church.  All  these  liturgies  agree 
in  professing  the  real,  substantial,  objective 
presence  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  our  Lord  ; 
and  not  only  profess  this  belief,  but  carry  it  out 
by  expressing  their  faith  and  adoration  in  the 
most  glowing  terms. 

As  to  the  Fathers  of  the  Latin  and  the  Greek 
Church,  they  are  so  numerous  that  it  would 
require  a  volume  to  give  their  testimony.  Let 
us  take  one  or  two.  St.  Ambrose  died  in  397. 
He  was  Bishop  of  Milan  in  the  time  of  the 
Emperor  Theodosius.  Listen  to  his  words : 
"  Perchance  thou  sayest,  Here  it  is  my  bread 
which  is  used.  But  that  bread  is  bread  only 
till  the  Sacramental  words  are  spoken  :  at  the 
consecration,  instead  of  bread  there  cometh  to 
be  the  Body  of  Christ.  This,  therefore,  let  us 
establish.  How  cometh  it  that  that  which  was 
bread  becometh  the  Body  of  Christ?  Through 
the  consecration.  And  in  what  words,  and  in 
whose  language,  doth  the  consecration  take 
place?  In  those  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  All  the 
other  things  which  are  said,  the  ascription  of 
praise  to  God,  the  prayer  for  the  people,  for 


106  The   Treasure  of  the   Church. 

kings,  and  for  others  which  formeth  the  first 
part  (of  the  Canon),  these  are  put  in  the  mouth 
of  the  priest,  but  when  that  point  is  reached, 
when  this  venerable  Sacrament  is  to  be  con 
secrated,  then  the  priest  useth  no  more  his  own 
words,  but  Christ's.  It  is  the  word  of  Christ, 
therefore,  which  doth  the  needful  work  of  the 
Sacrament.  And  what  is  the  word  of  Christ? 
It  is  the  word  of  Him  at  whose  bidding  all 
things  were  made.  The  Lord  commanded  and 
the  heavens  were  created  ;  the  Lord  com 
manded  and  the  earth  was  formed  ;  the  Lord 
commanded  and  the  seas  were  made  ;  the  Lord 
commanded  and  all  the  creatures  sprung  into 
being.  Thou  seest  how  mighty-working  a  word 
is  the  word  of  Christ.  If,  then,  the  word  of 
Christ  hath  such  power  that  it  can  make  that 
to  be  which  hath  never  been,  wherein  doth  it 
appear  greater  that  it  maketh  one  thing  to  be 
changed  into  another  ?  There  was  once  no 
heaven  ;  there  was  once  no  sea ;  there  was 
once  no  earth.  But  hear  Him  who  saith  : 
'  He  spake  and  it  was  done,  He  commanded 
and  it  stood  fast.'  If,  then,  I  am  to  answer  thee, 
I  tell  thee  that  before  the  consecration  it  was 
not  the  Body  of  Christ,  but  after  the  consecration 
it  is  the  Body  of  Christ,  for  Himself  hath  spoken, 
and  it  is  done :  He  hath  commanded  and  it 
standeth  fast.  .  .  .  Therefore  it  is  not  idly 
that  when  thou  art  receiving  thou  sayest 
'  Amen  ' — testifying  in  thy  heart  that  That 
which  thou  art  taking  is  the  Body  of  Christ. 


The   Treasure  of  the   Church.  107 

The  priest  says  unto  thee :  'The  Body  ot 
Christ,'  and  thou  answereth  'Amen' — that  is 
to  say,  'It  is  true.'  What,  then,  thy  tongue 
confesseth,  let  thine  heart  hold  to "  (qth,  ^th, 
and 6th  lessons,  Wed.,  Oct.  C.C.*). 

Now  let  us  consider  a  passage,  taken  almost  at 
random,  from  a  great  Greek  Father.  St.  John 
Chrysostom  was  Patriarch  of  Constantinople, 
and  died  A.D.  407.  He  begins  :  "  '  We,  being 
many,  are  one  body  '  (saith  the  Apostle),  and 
again,  '  We  are  members  of  His  Body,  of  His 
Flesh,  and  of  His  Bones.'  Only  the  initiated 
will  understand  what  I  say.  That  this  union 
may  take  place,  not  by  love  only,  but  verily  and 
indeed,  we  ought  to  mingle  our  own  with  His 
Flesh.  And  this  is  done  by  eating  that  food 
which  He  hath  given  unto  us.  .  .  To  this 
end  He  hath  mingled  Himself  with  us,  and 
infused  His  Body  into  our  bodies,  that  we  may 
be  one  together,  like  as  the  limbs  of  a  man  and 
his  head  are  all  of  one  body.  Such  union  do  they 
long  for  that  love  much  "  (^.th  lesson,  Saturday, 
Oct.  C.C.}. 

Such  quotations  as  these  from  the  early 
Fathers  are  exceedingly  abundant,  but  these 
two,  from  the  Latin  and  the  Greek  Church,  are 
sufficient  for  my  purpose. 

*  The  authenticity  of  this  passage  seems  to  be  doubtful,  but 
it  has  long-  been  included  in  St.  Ambrose's  works.  If  not 
written  by  the  saint  himself,  it  is  at  any  rate  contemporary, 
and  bears  testimony  to  the  belief  of  the  Church  at  the  time  as 
clearly  as  if  St.  Ambrose  himself  had  written  it. 


io8  The   Treasure  of  the  Church. 

Now  it  may  be  asked,  can  any  stronger  proof 
of  the  Lord's  real  presence  in  the  Holy  Eucharist 
be  given  in  the  nature  of  things?  I  think  not; 
and  yet  it  practically  comes  to  nothing.  No 
amount  of  written  evidence  will  ever  convince 
mankind  of  such  a  doctrine,  or,  at  least,  lead 
them  to  any  real  and  practical  belief  in  it. 
Nothing  short  of  a  living,  teaching  authority, 
appointed  by  Almighty  God,  can  ever  bring 
home  to  the  minds  of  men  a  doctrine  so  over 
whelming  in  itself,  and  so  full  of  practical 
consequences  as  the  Real  Presence. 

St.  Philip  asked  the  Eunuch:  "  Thinkest 
thou  that  thou  understandest  what  thou  readest? 
Who  said  :  And  how  can  I  unless  some  man 
show  me?"  (Acts  viii.  30-31).  As  St.  Peter  tells 
us:  "No  prophecy  of  Scripture  is  made  by 
private  interpretation  "  (2  St.  Pet.  i.  20) — and  all 
attempts  to  give  a  clear  and  reliable  faith,  without 
the  teaching  of  the  Church  appointed  by  God, 
have  always  utterly  failed. 

Our  Lord  says  :  "  Do  this  in  commemoration 
of  me."  But  you  must  have  some  living 
authoritative  voice  to  tell  you  what  to  do,  and 
how  to  do  it.  You  must  have  some  one  stand 
ing  by,  able  to  direct  you  in  difficulties  and 
emergencies, — in  short,  able  to  take  charge  of 
so  wonderful  a  Sacrament.  With  such  an 
Authority,  men  can  administer  It  with  peace  and 
joy  ;  without  this  Authority,  there  must  always 
be  a  painful  uncertainty  and  unreality  about 
it.  This,  I  think,  is  what  we,  in  fact,  find 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  109 

amongst  our  good  friends   who  are  out  of  the 
Church. 

I  said  that  the  Holy  Eucharist  was  a  test  of 
the  reality  of  our  faith  in  the  Incarnation  ;  I 
think  I  may  add  that  it  is  also  a  test  of  our 
true  faith  in  the  Authority  of  the  Church.  If 
we  really  believe  that  our  Lord  has  appointed  a 
living  Church  with  full  authority  to  teach  us, 
there  is  no  difficulty  in  accepting  even  this  most 
wonderful  mystery,  the  mystery  of  our  Lord's 
perpetual  presence  in  the  Holy  Sacrament.  It  is 
difficult,  of  course,  to  imagine  or  to  fathom  ;  a 
thousand  questions  arise  about  it  which  we 
cannot  answer,  but,  if  we  believe  that  this 
doctrine  is  really  taught  by  God,  we  accept  it 
without  hesitation. 

On  the  other  hand,  without  such  a  reliable 
teaching  authority,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how 
people  can  have  any  clear,  certain  faith  on  such  a 
subject.  The  written  proofs  are  in  themselves, 
in  the  nature  of  things,  more  or  less  vague. 
They  admit  generally  of  many  interpretations, 
and  abundant  contradictory  opinions  can  be 
formed,  so  that  a  positive  conclusion  is  very 
difficult.  They  leave,  moreover,  a  vast  number  of 
details  quite  untouched,  and  yet,  without  these 
details,  the  administration  of  the  Sacrament  is 
impossible.  At  any  rate,  I  think  it  is  clear  that 
any  real  hold  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Sacraments 
has,  in  fact,  always  disappeared  when  the  belief 
in  the  Divine  teaching  authority  of  the  Church 
was  abandoned. 


no  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

I  said  before  that  the  Holy  Eucharist  was 
called  the  "  Mystery  of  Faith";  I  should  like, 
therefore,  to  consider  the  question  of  "faith," 
though  it  is  perhaps  a  digression.  St.  Paul 
says  :  "  Now  faith  is  the  substance  of  things  to  be 
hoped  for,  the  evidence  of  things  that  appear 
not  "  (Heb.  xi.  i). 

It  is  that  spiritual  faculty  that  gives  a  substance 
and  a  reality  to  the  things  that  we  hope  for. 
Without  faith,  they  are  but  dreams  and  shadows, 
and  cannot  reasonably  affect  our  conduct.  It  is 
also  the  faculty  by  which  alone  we  can  grasp 
those  things  which  appear  not ;  that  is,  which 
we  cannot  see  and  feel  either  physically  or 
mentally. 

Faith,  then,  according  to  the  Apostle,  is  an 
entirely  different  thing  from  that  notion  of  faith 
invented  by  Luther,  when  he  taught  that  faith 
meant  a  conviction  of  your  own  future  salvation. 

If  faith,  then,  is  the  substance  of  what  we  have 
to  hope  for,  it  must  be  the  necessary  and 
essential  foundation  of  all  religion.  A  religion 
without  faith  is  like  a  building  without  a  founda 
tion  ;  that  is,  a  thing  of  sentiments  and  fancies, 
without  any  real  and  reasonable  principles.  St. 
Paul,  therefore,  goes  on  to  say  :  "  Without  faith 
it  is  impossible  to  please  God.  For  he  that 
cometh  to  God  must  believe  that  He  is,  and  is 
a  rewarder  to  them  that  seek  Him  "  (Heb.  xi.  6). 

But  now  we  have  to  consider  that  Faith  is 
specially  precious,  because  it  is  a  foundation. 
We  can  build  upon  it  a  great  house  ;  an  edifice 


The   Treasure  of  the  Church.  1 1 1 

of  many  virtues  and  saintly  deeds.  On  it  depend 
Hope  and  Charity,  and  all  the  glorious  virtues 
coming  from  them.  But  a  foundation  with 
nothing  built  upon  it  is  of  no  use  :  by  itself,  it 
serves  no  purpose  at  all.  Therefore  St.  James 
says:  "  Faith  without  works  is  dead"  (St. 
James  ii.  20).  It  is  important  to  dwell  on  this, 
as  all  the  sects  founded  on  Lutheranism  take  a 
false  view  of  this  question,  and  say  that  "  faith 
alone  saves  us." 

What  would  faith  be  like  without  its  proper 
superstructure  of  charity  ?  A  man  has  a  great 
faith  ;  that  is,  he  has  before  him  vividly  the 
substance  of  all  things  to  be  hoped  for  ;  the 
Great  God,  his  last  end  ;  the  eternal  life  for  which 
he  is  made  and  destined  :  and  then  turns  away 
from  them.  He  refuses  to  love  or  obey  that 
glorious  Lord  whom  his  faith  puts  before  him  ; 
he  refuses  to  seek  that  eternal  life  which  is  so 
clearly  presented  to  him  by  his  faith.  Is  faith, 
under  these  circumstances,  any  virtue?  Does  it 
not  make  his  disobedience  and  want  of  love,  a 
thousand  times  worse  than  they  would  otherwise 
have  been  ? 

It  would  be  much  the  same  even  if  you  took 
the  Lutheran  idea  of  faith.  Can  anything  be 
more  revolting  than  the  idea  of  a  man  believing 
himself  to  be  sure  of  eternal  life,  and  yet  not 
loving  or  obeying  the  God  who,  he  believes, 
will  certainly  give  it  to  him  ! 

St.  James  says:  "The  devils  believe  and 
tremble "  (St.  James  ii.  19).  Are  those  who 


H2  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

believe,  and  yet  refuse  to  obey,  in  any  better 
condition  than  they  ? 

Your  faith,  then,  is  a  foundation,  on  which 
you  must  build  in  the  most  perfect  way,  with 
material  worthy  of  your  faith.  Remember  what 
St.  Paul  says  :  "  Other  foundation  no  man  can 
lay  but  that  which  is  laid  ;  which  is  Christ 
Jesus"  (i  Cor.  iii.  2).  Remember  your  faith 
in  our  Lord  is  the  foundation  on  which  you  are 
to  build,  and  that  "  the  fire  shall  try  every  man's 
work  of  what  sort  it  is"  (i  Cor.  iii.  13). 

But  let  us  consider  faith  in  another  way  :  it  is 
the  gift  of  God.  "No  man  can  come  to  me, 
except  the  Father,  who  hath  sent  me,  draw  him  " 
(St.  John  vi.  44).  The  faith  that  draws  us  to 
God  must,  then,  be  God's  gift.  We  are  a  little 
too  much  inclined  to  forget  this,  and  to  attach 
too  much  weight  to  human  means. 

People  sometimes  think  that  their  becoming 
Catholics  is  chiefly  their  own  doing  ;  that  it  is 
their  own  intelligence  that  has  brought  them  to 
the  true  faith.  Again,  we  fancy  that  our 
eloquence  and  reasoning  has  worked  the  con 
version  of  others.  But,  "neither  he  that 
planteth  is  anything,  nor  he  that  watereth,  but 
God  that  giveth  the  increase  "  (i  Cor.  iii.  7). 
Everyone  who  is  really  converted,  is  converted 
by  God's  grace.  Of  course,  reason  has  its  share. 
God  does  not  ask  us  to  believe  without  reason 
able  proof  ;  but  that  is  not  sufficient.  We  need 
the  gift  of  God  before  we  can  really  believe  to 
our  own  salvation,  and,  therefore,  earnest  prayer 


The    Treasure  of  the  Church.  113 

to  God  is  more  important  than  anything  man 
can  say. 

Since  faith  is  God's  gift,  we  must  not  glorify 
ourselves  because  we  possess  it.  "  If  thou  hast 
received,  why  dost  thou  glory  as  if  thou  hadst 
not  received?"  (i  Cor.  iv.  7).  Again,  a  gift 
needs  acknowledgment,  and  such  a  gift  as  that 
of  the  Holy  Faith  deserves  a  constant  acknow 
ledgment  and  gratitude. 

Moreover,  a  gift  is  bestowed  in  order  that  it 
may  be  used.  If  a  man  makes  little  or  no  use 
of  the  precious  gift  of  faith,  can  he  be  surprised 
if  the  gift  is  one  day  taken  away  from  him  ? 
Alas !  this  happens  to  many :  they  make  no 
use  of  the  faith  bestowed  on  them,  and  some  day 
the  sentence  goes  forth,  "  Take  it  away  from 
him  "  (St.  Luke  xix.  24). 

There  is  another  way  in  which  we  may  look 
at  faith,  and  this,  I  think,  deserves  much  con 
sideration.  Faith  is  a  worship,  an  adoration 
paid  to  Almighty  God,  and  is  the  highest  kind 
of  worship.  The  Catechism  says  :  "I  must 
worship  God  by  Faith,  Hope  and  Charity." 
We  are  naturally  inclined  to  ask  how  these 
virtues,  great  and  important  as  they  are,  can 
properly  be  called  a  "worship"  of  God.  The 
answer  is  plain  enough.  Faith  is  the  worship 
of  the  understanding  ;  Hope  the  worship  of  the 
desires  ;  Charity  the  worship  of  the  heart.  The 
understanding  is  obviously  man's  highest  and 
most  distinguishing  characteristic.  It  is  this 
faculty  which  divides  us  by  an  impassable  line 

9 


H4  Th*  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

from  all  other  creatures,  from  "the  horse  and 
the  mule  which  have  no  understanding "  (Ps. 
xxxi.  9).  Faith  is  that  virtue  which  makes  us 
acknowledge  that  this  gift,  great  and  glorious  as 
it  is,  is,  after  all,  only  a  spark  from  Infinite 
Intelligence. 

If  there  were  no  such  Infinite  Intelligence, 
whence  could  man  have  acquired  this  under 
standing?  He  never  could  have  got  it  from 
lesser  beings,  themselves  possessing  no  such 
faculty.  By  reason  and  understanding,  we 
claim  kindred  with  this  Infinite  Mind,  and  the 
first  duty  of  reason  ought  to  be  to  acknowledge 
the  Infinite  source  from  which  it  proceeds. 

By  faith,  we  bow  down  our  understandings, 
and  compel  them  to  adore  and  to  submit  them 
selves  to  this  Infinite  Wisdom.  It  makes  us 
feel  that,  great  as  are  the  powers  God  has  given 
us,  there  is,  nevertheless,  Something  before 
which  they  must  bow  down  with  absolute  sub 
mission  ;  it  shows  us  that,  though  we  can  in 
some  degree  measure  and  reckon  up  all  created 
things,  there  is  still  One  Who  is  "  immense," 
immeasurable,  before  Whom  all  our  calculations 
fail  and  are  as  naught,  and  all  our  measuring 
rods  are  useless.  The  Lord  God  tells  us  that 
"as  the  heavens  are  exalted  above  the  earth, 
so  are  my  ways  exalted  above  your  ways,  and 
my  thoughts  above  your  thoughts  "  (Is.  Iv.  9). 

This  act  of  intellectual  submission  is  the  very 
essence  and  foundation  of  all  religion.  If  you 
do  not  give  this  homage  and  adoration,  and  the 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  115 

subjection  of  the  understanding,  all  other  kinds 
of  adoration  are  to  little  or  no  purpose.  It 
would  seem  the  simplest  and  easiest  thing  in 
the  world  to  do  this,  but  to  some  minds  it  is 
very  difficult.  They  are  conscious  to  themselves, 
perhaps,  of  very  great  powers,  and  find  it  hard 
to  realise  that  there  is  anything  which  is  quite 
beyond  their  grasp.  I  am  afraid  people  some 
times  become  Catholics  without  making,  or  at 
least  without  thoroughly  making,  this  act  of 
intellectual  submission.  Their  understanding 
accepts,  perhaps,  the  truths  taught,  but  never 
bows  down  to  the  earth  before  its  Creator. 
Sooner  or  later  this  terrible  flaw  makes  itself 
felt,  and  so,  in  this  way,  some  of  these  intel 
lectual  people  fall  away. 

I  have  spoken  of  faith  as  a  necessary  founda 
tion  for  anything  good,  as  a  gift  from  God  to 
man,  and  as  a  homage  and  adoration  offered  by 
men  to  God.  One  point  more  remains.  Faith 
is  a  virtue  :  that  is  to  say,  it  is  something  which 
requires  the  exercise  and  co-operation  of  our  free 
will.  Nothing  in  man  can  be  properly  called 
a  virtue  in  which  his  free  will  has  no  share. 
Virtue,  moreover,  as  its  name  implies,  requires 
some  struggle  or  exertion  to  secure  it.  Faith, 
then,  like  all  other  virtues,  means  good  will  and 
exertion  on  our  part.  God  has  made  His  reve 
lation  to  men  sufficiently  plain  to  enable  men  to 
accept  it  fully  ;  but  not  so  obvious  as  to  compel 
their  acquiescence. 

This    arises   largely  from   the    nature   of  the 


1 16  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 


truths  proposed  to  us.  The  truths  which  come 
before  our  minds  in  the  natural  order  are 
generally  things  which  we  can  entirely  grasp, 
and  which,  therefore,  leave  no  room  for  diffi 
culties  or  rebellion.  In  the  supernatural  order, 
however,  we  "  see  as  in  a  glass,  in  a  dark 
manner"  (i  Cor.  xiii.  12) — and  the  imagination 
has  abundant  opportunity  for  rebellion,  if  en 
couraged  or  allowed  to  rebel.  However  strong 
the  proof,  however  clear  maybe  your  conviction, 
moments  will  come  when  everything  seems  hazy  ; 
—when  all  kinds  ofpossibleand  impossible  doubts 
will  suggest  themselves  to  the  mind.  A  cloud 
comes  up  and  covers  the  sun,  and  the  road,  which 
just  now  seemed  so  plain,  appears  to  be  involved 
in  obscurity.  We  go  on  boldly,  however,  and  are 
confident  that  the  cloud  will  pass  and  our  path 
become  as  evident  as  it  was  before. 

This  is  exactly  what  we  have  to  do  in  matters 
of  faith :  we  must  go  on  bravely,  through  a 
sense  of  duty,  though  the  light  seems  to  have 
failed  for  a  moment. 

To  take  an  example  :  you  can  never  have  the 
slightest  doubt  that  two  and  two  make  four. 
Your  reason  and  your  imagination  completely 
grasp  the  whole  question  ;  and  no  rebellion  is 
possible.  In  any  mystery  of  religion  it  is 
different.  There  is  always  a  vast  territory,  if  I 
may  use  the  expression,  in  which  the  imagination 
has  no  holding  ground  :  in  which  a  thousand 
questions  may  be  asked  to  which  no  answer  can 
be  found. 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  117 

There  are  two  kinds  of  belief,  or  what  at  times 
appear  to  be  belief.  There  is  the  belief  of  the 
reason  and  there  is  the  belief  of  the  imagination. 
"  Seeing  is  believing."  Yes,  because  seeing 
more  or  less  satisfies  the  imagination,  not 
because  it  necessarily  adds  to  the  reasonableness 
of  conviction.  Men  want  to  seize  and  grasp — if 
not  with  their  hands,  at  least  with  their  eyes  and 
imagination,  and  they  confound  that  desire  with 
the  wish  for  reasonable  proof.  For  instance,  St. 
Thomas  says  :  "  Except  I  see  in  His  hands  the 
print  of  the  nails,  and  put  my  finger  into  the 
place  of  the  nails,  and  put  my  hand  into  His 
side,  I  will  not  believe  "  (St.  John  xx.  25). 
This  was  not  asking  for  reasonable  proof:  he 
had  plenty  of  that  already  in  the  testimony  of 
the  other  apostles,  and  the  testimony  of  his 
senses  would  have  added  very  little.  He  wanted 
something  to  convince  his  imagination — not  his 
reason.  He  wanted  to  touch  and  feel  for 
himself. 

If  I  might  attempt  a  parallel,  I  would  say  : 
Supposing  that  you  had  never  heard  of 
telegraphs,  or  electricity  in  any  shape  ;  and 
someone,  of  whose  learning  and  veracity  you 
could  not  possibly  doubt,  came  to  you  and  told 
you  that  you  could  send  a  message  in  a  few 
seconds  to  New  York  by  a  wire  under  the  sea, 
you  certainly  would  believe  it.  You  could  not 
do  otherwise,  being  quite  clear  as  to  the  accuracy 
of  your  informant.  I  think,  however,  your 
imagination  would  rebel  a  good  deal,  and  would 


n8  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

keep  on  saying  :  How  on  earth  can  that  be?  Isn't 
it  contrary  to  common  sense?  If  you  happened 
to  live  amongst  people  who  derided  the  notion, 
and  laughed  at  you  for  supposing  that  by 
dabbling  some  pieces  of  metal  in  water  here, 
you  could  communicate  your  thoughts  to  people 
in  America — if  that  was  the  case,  I  think  you 
would  have  often  to  recall  to  your  mind  the 
cogency  of  the  authority  on  which  you  had 
received  the  facts,  and  you  would  sometimes  find 
it  difficult  to  stifle  misgivings. 

A  little  later,  however,  when  you  have  felt  a 
few  stiff  electric  shocks,  and  sent  and  received  a 
dozen  messages  from  friends  in  America,  your 
imagination  also  would  be  satisfied,  and  all 
possible  misgivings  would  be  at  an  end. 

It  is  something  like  this  in  faith.  We  have 
abundance  to  satisfy  our  reason,  but  we  cannot, 
in  the  nature  of  things,  gratify  our  imaginations 
in  this  life — and  so  they  will  keep  on  crying  out 
occasionally:  "How  can  all  this  be?''  and 
compel  us  to  fall  back  on  the  logical  grounds  of 
certainty  which  we  possess,  or  rather  to  cry  out 
to  our  Lord,  with  St.  Peter  :  "  Lord,  to  whom 
shall  I  go?  Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal 
life  "(St.  John  vi.  69). 

It  is  this  very  obscurity  and  difficulty  which 
makes  the  merit  of  faith.  Faith  is  a  virtue, 
because  it  requires  a  sense  of  duty,  and  some 
effort,  at  all  times  steadily  to  keep  the  truths  of 
faith  before  the  mind. 

The  virtue  of  faith  has   to  be  guarded,  as  all 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  119 

other  virtues  have,  by  care  in  avoiding  dangers. 
Those  who  heedlessly  and  unnecessarily  expose 
themselves  to  danger  are  very  liable  to  fall.  It 
is  so  with  every  other  virtue,  and  it  is  so  with 
faith.  When  it  is  your  duty  to  meet  dangers 
and  temptations  against  faith,  you  may  do  so 
with  impunity — but  "  he  that  loveth  danger  shall 
perish  in  it "  (Ecclus.  iii.  27). 

Like  every  other  virtue,  faith  must  be  pre 
served  and  increased  by  prayer,  especially  in 
moments  of  temptation.  Every  Christian,  how 
ever  strong  in  his  faith,  ought  to  have  before 
him  the  prayer  of  the  poor  father,  who,  crying 
out  with  tears,  said  :  "  I  do  believe,  O  Lord  ;  help 
my  unbelief  "  (St.  Mark  ix.  23). 

Virtues,  moreover,  are  cultivated  by  "acts" 
of  the  virtue.  A  virtue  is  a  habit  of  the  mind 
which  generally  is  dormant,  and  only  occasion 
ally  is  brought  into  use.  If  we  want  this  virtue 
to  abound  in  us,  we  must  find  opportunities  of 
exercising  it,  otherwise  it  is  sure  to  grow  dull 
and  almost  lifeless.  Faith,  then,  is  a  habit  of 
mind;  but  an  "Act  of  Faith"  is  something,  in 
word  or  deed,  which  brings  this  habit  into 
energetic  exercise. 

The  highest  act  of  faith,  obviously,  is  the  act 
of  the  martyrs.  They  made  the  supreme  act  of 
faith  by  dying  for  their  Faith.  We  may  say, 
generally,  that  things  which  we  do  are  much 
more  important  acts  of  any  virtue  than  anything 
we  can  say.  If  you  suffer  persecution,  even  in 
a  very  small  way  ;  if  you  sacrifice  something, 


I2O  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

or  bear  some  inconvenience  ;  if  you  will  only 
bear  to  be  laughed  at  for  your  faith,  you  are 
making  a  most  excellent  act  of  the  virtue, 
and  one  which  will  not  lose  its  reward.  St. 
Paul  says:  "  You  have  not  yet  resisted  unto 
blood,  striving  against  sin "  (Heb.  xii.  4). 
Alas,  how  little  have  we  done  for  our  faith  ! 
Commonly  speaking,  however,  by  "  Acts  of 
Faith,"  we  mean  putting  our  faith  into  words, 
and  expressing  it  in  suitable  language.  We 
find,  therefore,  that  the  "  Acts  of  Faith,  Hope 
and  Charity "  have  a  prominent  place  in  the 
daily  prayers  of  a  Christian. 

I  have  spoken  of  faith  as  a  worship  of  Cod 
as  the  worship  offered  to  His  Divine  Majesty 
and  Infinite  Wisdom  by  the  highest  faculty 
granted  to  -man.  To  complete  this  subject,  I 
may,  perhaps,  be  allowed  to  speak  of  the 
worship  offered  by  the  other  theological  virtues 
—Hope  and  Charity. 

Hope  is  the  worship  of  the  desires.  By  it, 
man  chooses  his  Creator  as  his  last  end,  and  as 
the  supreme  and  ultimate  object  of  his  desires. 
Whatever  we  make  our  last  end  is,  in  a  very 
true  sense,  our  God.  Thus  St.  Paul  speaks 
of  "  covetousness,  which  is  a  serving  of  idols" 
(Col.  iii.  5).  This  means  that  those  who  make 
money  their  last  end  are  becoming  idolaters, 
by  making  money  their  god.  Sometimes  it  is 
money,  sometimes  it  is  ambition,  or  the  love 
of  pleasure  or  distinction,  or  the  praise  of  men, 
or  the  love  of  some  human  being  :  it  matters 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  121 

not,  you  are  serving  "  the  creature  rather  than 
the  Creator,  Who  is  blessed  for  ever  "  (Rom. 
i.  25). 

God  is  our  first  beginning  ;  it  is  He  "  Who 
giveth  to  all  life  and  breath,  and  all  things  "  (Acts 
xvii.  25).  And  He  must  necessarily  be  our  last 
end,  and  whoever  turns  away  from  this  last 
end  to  any  creature  whatsoever  is  guilty  of 
idolatry  by  making  that  creature  his  god. 

Hope,  then,  is  that  most  necessary  homage 
and  worship  of  our  desires  which  by  right 
belongs  to  God  alone. 

By  Charity,  we  give  to  God  the  worship  ot 
our  affections,  of  our  hearts.  By  charity,  we 
acknowledge  God  as  the  Infinite  source  of  all 
good,  from  Whom  comes  everything  beautiful 
and  worthy  of  love  which  is  to  be  found  in 
created  beings.  By  charity,  we  choose  Him 
before  all  creatures,  and  give  to  Him  that  love 
of  preference  which  is  His  by  right. 

We  cannot  worship  God  at  all  unless  we 
offer  to  Him  this  threefold  worship  :  the  worship 
of  the  understanding  ;  the  worship  of  the  desires  ; 
and  the  worship  of  the  heart  and  the  will.  All 
these  are  carried  out  by  what  we  call  the  virtue 
of  Religion,  which  consists  in  those  internal 
and  external  acts,  by  which  we  put  in  practice 
this  threefold  worship.  "  And  now  there 
remain,  faith,  hope,  charity,  these  three :  but 
the  greater  of  these  is  Charity"  (i  Cor, 
xiii.  13.) 


CHAPTER  VI. 


CHRIST,    OUR    SACRIFICE — THE    HOLY    MASS. 

A  worship  higher  than  words. — Sought  and  found. — Various 
kinds  of  Sacrifice  in  the  Old  Law. — They  make  present 
the  future  Sacrifice  of  the  Cross. — Holy  Mass  makes 
present  this  One  Sacrifice  for  all  times. — Given  us  to 
supply  our  wants. — Our  Sacrifice  of  Adoration, — of 
Praise, — of  Thanksgiving, — of  Atonement  for  Sin, — of 
Supplication. — Prayers  and  Ceremonial. — How  we  may 
make  this  Sacrifice  ours. — Elasticity  allowed. — Familiarity 
with  the  Liturgy  recommended. — Proper  of  the  Mass. — 
Ordinary  of  the  Mass. — High  Mass. — Incense. 

I  BEGAN  by  saying  that  the  primary  idea  of  the 
Incarnation  was  God  coming  down  to  His 
creatures,  that  is,  "God  with  us."  We  cannot 
indeed  know  what  would  have  been  the  course 
of  God's  Providence  if  the  Human  Race  had 
never  fallen  into  sin,  but  the  general  idea  of  the 
Church  seems  to  be  that  even  then,  in  some  way 
or  other,  God  would  have  condescended  to  put 
Himself,  in  some  special  way,  in  communication 
with  His  intelligent  creatures. 

The  angels  needed   Him  as  much  as  we  do. 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  123 

He  is  as  far  removed  from  them  as  He  is  from 
us,  and  it  is  through  the  Lord  Incarnate  that 
they  address  themselves  to  their  infinite  Creator  : 
"  Through  whom  the  angels  praise  thy  Majesty, 
the  dominations  adore,  the  powers  tremble,  the 
heavens  and  the  virtues  of  the  heavens,  and  the 
blessed  seraphim  do  celebrate  with  united  joy  " 
(Common  Preface). 

The  humility,  the  sadness  and  suffering  of  the 
Incarnation  all  come  from  sin,  and  we  have  to 
adore  not  only  God  with  us,  but  a  Redeemer 
come  to  offer  a  painful  sacrifice  to  atone  for  sin. 

This  brings  us  to  speak  of  the  Sacrifice  of  the 
Mass,  which  is  the  second  part  of  the  Mystery 
of  the  Holy  Eucharist.  It  is  a  Sacrament  and  a 
Sacrifice.  I  have  spoken  of  it  as  the  Sacrament 
by  which  we  are  united  to  God,  and  I  must  now 
consider  it  as  the  perpetual  Sacrifice,  in  which 
the  Offering  of  Mount  Calvary  is  daily  renewed. 

We  say  that  the  Mass  is  a  Sacrifice  ;  let  us 
consider  what  we  mean  by  a  sacrifice.  It  is 
clear  that  from  the  beginning  of  the  world  till 
now,  men  have  always  felt  that  there  is,  and 
must  be,  a  higher  worship  to  be  given  to  God 
than  mere  words.  Whether  from  primeval 
tradition  or  from  some  instinct  inherent  in 
human  nature,  it  is  certain  that  almost  all  ages 
and  all  peoples  have  had  the  idea  of  sacrifice  : 
that  is,  of  offering  something  or  other  which 
must  be  sacrificed,  which  must  be  slain,  burnt 
or,  in  some  distinct  way,  changed,  so  as  to  be 
removed  from  common  use.  This  must  t)e 


124  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

offered  to  God  as  a  homage  to  His  Majesty,  as 
an  acknowledgment  of  benefit,  a  confession  of 
sin,  or  for  some  other  specific  object. 

This  we  find  everywhere,  but  specially  do  we 
find  it  in  the  account  given  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures  of  the  origin  of  the  human  race. 
From  the  moment  our  first  parents  were  driven 
out  of  Paradise,  sacrifices  began  ;  and  they 
continued,  in  some  shape  or  other,  until  the 
giving  of  the  Old  Law,  when  they  were  made, 
by  God's  appointment,  the  greatest  of  all 
religious  rites. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  remind  you  of  the 
number  and  variety  of  the  sacrifices  commanded 
in  the  Old  Law.  They  had  holocausts  or  whole 
burnt  offerings  ;  they  had  morning  and  evening 
sacrifices.  "  As  I  was  yet  speaking  in  prayer, 
behold  the  man  Gabriel,  whom  I  had  seen  in  the 
vision  at  the  beginning,  flying  swiftly  touched 
me  at  the  time  of  the  evening  sacrifice  " 
(Dan.  ix.  21). 

They  had  sin  offerings  and  offerings  of 
thanksgiving,  and  indeed  sacrifices  for  almost 
every  occasion:  sometimes  the  "  blood  of  oxen 
and  of  goats,"  sometimes  the  incense  which  was 
consumed  before  the  Lord. 

Read  the  account  of  the  dedication  of 
Solomon's  temple,  and  you  get  some  idea  of  the 
sacrifices  of  the  Old  Law.  "  And  King  Solomon 
and  all  the  assembly  of  Israel,  and  all  that  were 
gathered  together  before  the  ark,  sacrificed  rams 
and  oxen  without  number :  so  great  was  the 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  125 

multitude  of  the  victims.  .  .  The  house  of  God 
was  filled  with  a  cloud.  Nor  could  the  priests 
stand  and  minister  by  reason  of  the  cloud.  For 
the  glory  of  the  Lord  had  filled  the  house  of 
God"  (2  Par.  v.  6-14). 

These  sacrifices  were  all  offered  up,  according 
to  the  original  meaning  of  the  word.  They 
were  something  slain,  burned,  poured  out,  or,  in 
some  special  way,  changed,  as  a  homage  to  the 
Creator  of  all  things  and  to  the  Lord  of  Life  and 
Death. 

It  is  true  we  often  hear  the  word  used  in  a 
different  sense:  as,  "a  sacrifice  to  God  is  an 
afflicted  spirit  "  (Ps.  1.  19.),  "Offer  up  the  sacrifice 
of  justice,  and  trust  in  the  Lord  "  (Ps.  iv.  6), 
and  similar  passages.  These,  however,  merely 
mean  that  these  internal  feelings  have  an  analogy 
with  the  outward  sacrifices  commanded  in  the 
law. 

Now  let  us  consider  the  meaning  of  these 
sacrifices.  It  is  clear  that  the  things  offered  to 
God  were  not  valuable  or  important  in  them 
selves,  but  must  have  had  reference  to  something 
much  higher  ;  and  the  Christian  revelation  ex 
plains  to  us  exactly  what  their  object  was.  They 
were  intended  to  represent,  that  is,  in  a  sense, 
to  make  present  to  each  age  that  wonderful  and 
adorable  Sacrifice  which  alone  could  have  any 
value  before  God.  That  Sacrifice  was  afar  off : 
many  ages  must  pass  before  that  Sacred  Victim 
was  to  appear  and  offer  Himself  for  the  sins  of 
men.  His  Sacrifice  was  for  all  time.  He  was 


126  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

"the  Lamb  which  was  slain  from  the  beginning 
of  the  world  "  (Ap.  xiii.  8).  He  was  always 
before  the  throne  of  God  "  the  Lamb  standing 
as  it  were  slain  "  (Ap.  v.  6).  Still,  according 
to  the  designs  of  God,  there  must  be  something 
to  make  each  generation  partakers  of  it.  This 
explains  to  us  the  meaning  of  all  those  sacri 
fices  the  Jews  were  commanded  to  offer. 

St.  John  Chrysostom  says  :  "  And  could  the 
blood  of  a  sheep  save  a  man  ?  Yea,  in  good 
sooth  :  not  because  it  was  blood,  but  because  it 
represented  in  a  figure  the  Blood  of  the  Lord. 
The  statues  of  monarchs,  mindless  and  speech 
less  images,  though  they  be,  have  sometimes 
been  an  helpful  refuge  to  men  endowed  with 
soul  and  reason  ;  not  because  they  are  works  of 
a  brazier's  skill,  but  because  the  likeness  they 
bear  is  a  king's.  And  just  so  did  this  uncon 
scious  blood  deliver  the  lives  of  men,  not  because 
it  was  blood,  but  because  it  foreshadowed  the 
shedding  of  the  Blood  of  Jesus "  (Feast  of 
the  Precious  Blood,  ^th  and  $th  lessons ). 

This,  then,  is  the  wondrous  plan  and  design 
of  God,  by  which  He  made  the  Sacrifice  of 
Calvary  present  to  all  ages,  and  gave  each 
generation,  a  part  in  it  :  and  this,  perhaps,  not 
only  in  His  chosen  people,  but  amongst  those 
nations  which  knew  not  God,  but  were,  to  use 
St.  Paul's  words  "  seeking  God,  if  happily  they 
may  feel  after  Him  or  find  Him  "  (Acts  xvii. 

27). 

Such  a  plan  was  for  all  time,  and  not  to  cease 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  127 

when  the  Great  Sacrifice  had  been  accomplished. 
It  was  still  to  be  made  present  to  all  ages  which 
succeeded  as  it  had  been  to  those  which  went 
before,  and  therefore  we  too  must  have  our 
Sacrifice. 

Wonderfully  has  this  been  done  by  our  Lord 
in  the  Holy  Eucharist.  He  has  given  us  His 
Body  and  Blood  as  our  perpetual  Sacrifice,  the 
constant  representation  and  memorial  and  the 
daily  renewal  of  His  most  Sacred  Passion. 

In  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  then,  we  have  two 
things  to  consider,  ist:  It  is  the  continuation 
and  completion  of  His  Incarnation,  by  which 
He  gives  to  each  age  and  to  each  country 
that  special  communication  of  His  Divine 
Presence  which  His  Incarnation  brought  to  the 
human  race.  2nd  :  He  makes  us  partakers  of 
that  sacrifice  which  He  offered  up  for  us  as 
sinners. 

It  is  a  memorial  of  the  Passion.  "  Do  this 
in  commemoration  of  Me."  What  can  more 
forcibly  and  more  fully  remind  us  of  His  Passion, 
than  the  Presence  of  that  very  glorious  Body 
which  He  raised  from  the  dead?  When  Jesus, 
after  His  Resurrection,  stood  in  the  midst  of 
His  Apostles  and  showed  them  His  Glorious 
Body,  His  hands  and  His  side,  He  was  giving 
them  the  most  perfect  memorial  of  His  Cruci 
fixion  and  death  that  can  be  conceived. 

So  also  does  His  Eucharistic  Presence  most 
perfectly  remind  us  of  all  He  has  done  for  us, 
not  indeed  to  sight,  but  to  our  faith.  "  He  hath 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 


made  a  remembrance  of  His  wonderful  works. 
.  .  .  He  hath  given  food  to  them  that  fear 
Him"  (Ps.  ex.  4,5).  If  this  food  had  been 
nothing  but  ordinary  food — if  it  had  been  mere 
bread  and  wine — how  could  it  have  been  a 
memorial  of  His  most  wonderful  and  blessed 
Passion  ? 

But  it  is  not  only  a  memorial,  it  is  a  renewal. 
"  You  shall  show  the  death  of  the  Lord  until  He 
come"  (i  Cor.  xi.  26).  Our  Lord's  natural 
death  is  most  truly  shown  by  His  mystical 
death,  as  represented  by  the  separate  Conse 
cration  of  the  bread  and  wine.  By  this  our 
Lord  is  on  the  altar,  "standing  as  it  were 
slain." 

It  is  also  a  sacrifice  given  to  supply  our  wants, 
and  to  enable  us  to  worship  our  God  as  we 
ought.  We  have  nothing  of  our  own  in  the 
least  worthy  of  His  acceptance,  and  therefore 
He  has  given  to  us  a  great  gift  which  must 
always  be  acceptable,  since  it  is  the  offering  ol 
One  Who  "is  heard  for  His  reverence  "  (Heb. 
v.  7). 

We  have  a  great  debt  to  pay  our  Creator. 
He  has  made  us,  and  every  day  He  preserves 
and  watches  over  us  :  every  day,  therefore,  we 
ought  by  prayer  to  enter  His  Presence  and  do 
something  to  pay  our  debt.  This  offering  of  at 
least  some  fervent  prayer  every  day  is  perhaps 
the  very  first  of  a  Christian's  duty.  He  has  to 
speak  to  His  God,  to  acknowledge  Him  as  His 
Master  and  praise  Him.  But  this  is  not  enough. 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  129 

He   needs  a  sacrifice   which   will   enable    Him 
adequately  to  pay  the  debt  he  owes. 

What  is  this  debt?  First  an  acknowledgment 
of  God's  supreme  dominion,  and  that  we,  His 
creatures,  are  but  dust  and  ashes  in  His  Presence. 
u  All  nations  are  before  Him  as  if  they  had  no 
being  at  all,  and  are  counted  to  Him  as  nothing 
and  vanity  "  (Isaias  xl.  17).  For  this  end  is  the 
Mass,  our  holocaust,  offered,  as  were  the  whole- 
burnt  offerings  of  the  Jews,  to  God  alone  as  the 
supreme  Lord.  And  we  owe  to  our  Lord,  more 
over,  an  immense  and  ever  increasing  debt  of 
praise.  The  Holy  Scripture  is  full  of  praise  : 
"Give  praise  to  the  Lord,  for  He  is  good  ;  for 
His  mercy  endureth  for  ever.  .  .  .  Let 
them  that  fear  the  Lord  now  say,  that  His  mercy 
endureth  for  ever  "  (Ps.  cxvii.  1-4).  "  Blessed 
be  the  name  of  the  Lord,  from  henceforth  now 
and  for  ever.  From  the  rising  of  the  sun  unto  the 
going  down  of  the  same,  the  name  of  the  Lord 
is  worthy  of  praise  "  (Ps.  cxii.  2,  3).  We  think 
too  little  of  this  great  duty  of  praising  our 
Creator,  yet :  "  What  can  be  less  than  to  afford 
Him  praise,  the  easiest  recompense,  and  pay 
Him  thanks,  how  due  !  " 

The  Mass  is  our  Sacrifice  of  praise,  our  thank 
offering,  our  Eucharistic  Sacrifice.  So,  again, 
the  Jews  had  provided  for  them  offerings  for  sin. 
When  men  had  sinned,  it  was  not  enough  for 
them  to  repent :  they  must  also  offer  up  the 
sacrifice  appointed  to  atone  for  sin.  So  the 
Holy  Mass  is  offered  by  the  priest  "  for  my 

10 


130  The   Treasure  oj  the  Church. 

innumerable  sins,  offences  and  negligences,  and 
for  all  around,  and  for  all  faithful  Christians 
living  and  dead." 

We  have  also  a  vast  number  of  wants  ;  we 
are  dependent  on  God's  bounty  every  day : 
4 'Thou  openeth  Thy  hand,  and  filleth  every 
living  creature  with  benediction  "  (Ps.  cxliv.  16). 
St.  Paul  says  :  '  "  Be  nothing  solicitous  ;  but  in 
everything  by  prayer  and  supplication,  with 
thanksgiving,  let  your  petitions  be  made  known 
to  God"  (Phil.  iv.  6). 

Every  day  we  have  our  petitions  to  present 
before  the  throne,  and  God  has  given  us  a  most 
acceptable  sacrifice  which  will  always  be  before 
Him  as  an  odour  of  sweetness.  Our  Lord  is 
"always  living  to  make  intercession  for  us" 
(Heb.  vii.  25).  And  this  intercession  He  con 
stantly  renews  in  the  most  Holy  Sacrifice  which 
He  has  left  us. 

The  Holy  Mass  is,  then,  a  perpetual  Sacrifice 
by  which  His  Passion  is  made  present  to  men 
in  every  generation,  and  which  is  constantly 
offered  for  all  the  ends  and  objects  for  which 
the  many  sacrifices  of  the  Old  Law  were 
instituted. 

The  Catechism  tells  us  that :  "The  Sacrifice 
of  the  Mass  is  offered  for  four  ends  :  first,  to  give 
supreme  honour  and  glory  to  God  ;  secondly,  to 
thank  Him  for  all  His  benefits  ;  thirdly,  to  obtain 
pardon  for  our  sins  ;  and  fourthly,  to  obtain  all 
other  graces  and  blessings  through  Jesus  Christ." 

This  Sacrifice  is  offered  up  for  all  men,  for  the 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  131 

whole  Church  and  all  Christian  people  ;  but  it 
may  also  be  offered  for  individuals.  In  the  Old 
Law  there  were  many  sacrifices  offered  publicly 
for  the  whole  community,  but  each  member  of 
the  community  might  have  sacrifices  offered  for 
himself  and  his  own  spiritual  and  temporal 
interests.  These  special  sacrifices  were  not  only 
allowed,  but  on  many  occasions,  men  were  com 
manded  to  offer  them  (v.g.  Lev.  xii.  6-8; 
xiv.  4).  In  the  same  way  our  Lord  has  left  us 
the  sacrifice  of  His  own  Body  and  Blood  to  be 
offered  as  occasion  requires,  not  only  for  the 
general  wants  of  the  Church,  but  according  to 
the  intentions  and  wishes  of  individuals. 

This  consideration  naturally  brings  in  the 
question  of  the  offerings  made  by  the  faithful  in 
return  for  Masses  celebrated  for  their  intentions. 
These  things  are  strictly  regulated  by  the 
Church,  but  have,  most  unreasonably,  been 
made  a  ground  of  complaint  against  Catholics, 
It  may  be  desirable  later  on  to  go  more  fully 
into  the  course  of  action  the  Church  adopts  in 
this  matter. 

We  must  now  consider  the  prayers  and  cere 
monial  used  by  the  Church  in  the  offering  of 
this  Holy  Sacrifice. 

The  first  point  I  will  take  is  one  which  is 
small  in  itself,  but  which  is  the  first  to  attract 
the  notice  of  strangers  :  that  is,  the  language 
which  the  Church  uses  in  the  celebration  of  the 
Mass.  The  Mass  and  all  the  Eucharistic  and 
Sacramental  prayers  used  by  the  Church  are 


132  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

in  Latin.  This  applies  only  to  the  Western 
Church.  There  are  many  different  liturgies  in 
the  East,  which  are  in  Greek,  Syriac  and  other 
Oriental  tongues.  These,  however,  generally 
are  quite  as  distinct  from  the  ordinary  vernacular 
language  of  those  countries,  as  Latin  is  from  the 
languages  spoken  in  Europe. 

One  of  the  first  difficulties,  then,  which  strikes 
a  Protestant  entering  our  churches  is  the 
language.  "What  is  the  use  of  attending  a 
service  in  a  tongue  which  I  cannot  understand?  " 
Such  is  the  very  natural  complaint  that  people 
make.  Nothing  could  be  more  reasonable,  if 
the  Mass  were  intended  to  be  a  form  of  Common 
Prayer ;  but  it  is  not.  This  is  obvious,  not 
only  from  the  language,  but  from  the  attitude 
the  priest  assumes,  with  his  back  to  the  people, 
and,  most  of  all,  from  the  fact  that  the  greater 
part  of  the  Mass  is  recited  secretly.  It  is  not  a 
form  of  Common  Prayer,  but  a  great  action,  at 
which  the  people  are  invited  to  assist :  it  is  a 
solemn  sacrifice  offered  to  God  in  which  the 
people  can  take  part  without  hearing  or  joining 
in  one  word  that  is  said.  The  bystanders  can 
join  as  I  before  said,  just  as  the  people  standing 
without  joined  with  Zachary,  as  he  was  offering 
incense,  although  they  could  not  see  him,  nor 
hear  his  words  (St.  Luke  i.  21). 

Those  who  are  assisting  at  Mass  may  be 
saying  entirely  different  prayers  and  yet  may 
all  be  joining  most  fully  and  most  fervently  in 
the  Sacrifice  which  is  being  offered.  If  the 


Ttie  Treasure  of  the  Church.  133 


Mass  was  said  in  English  and  so  that  everyone 
might,  and  must  hear,  there  would  be  no  room 
for  these  different  ways  of  hearing  Mass. 

I  think  it  desirable  to  put  in  here  a  beautiful 
description  of  the  Mass  by  Cardinal  Newman. 
It  is  supposed  to  be  an  account  given  by  a 
young  convert  to  some  Protestant  friends  who 
had  been  making  objections.  "  I  declare,  to 
me,"  he  says,  "  to  me  nothing  is  so  consoling, 
so  thrilling,  so  overcoming,  as  the  Mass,  said  as 
it  is  among  us.  I  could  attend  Masses  for  ever, 
and  not  be  tired.  It  is  not  a  mere  form  of  words,— 
it  is  a  great  action,  the  greatest  action  that  can 
be  on  earth.  It  is,  not  the  invocation  merely, 
but,  if  I  dare  to  use  the  word,  the  evocation  of 
the  Eternal.  He  becomes  present  on  the  altar 
in  flesh  and  blood,  before  whom  angels  bow  and 
devils  tremble.  This  is  that  awful  event  which 
is  the  scope,  and  is  the  interpretation,  of  every 
part  of  the  solemnity.  Words  are  necessary, 
but  as  means,  not  as  ends  ;  they  are  not  mere 
addresses  to  the  Throne  of  grace,  they  are  instru 
ments  of  Avhat  is  far  higher,  of  consecration,  of 
sacrifice.  They  hurry  on  as  if  impatient  to  fulfil 
their  mission.  Quickly  they  go,  the  whole  is 
quick ;  for  they  are  all  parts  of  one  integral 
action.  Quickly  they  go  ;  for  they  are  awful 
words  of  sacrifice,  they  are  a  work  too  great  to 
delay  upon  ;  as  when  it  was  said  in  the  begin 
ning,  '  What  thou  doest,  do  quickly.'  Quickly 
they  pass  ;  for  the  Lord  Jesus  goes  with  them, 
as  He  passed  along  the  lake  in  the  days  of  His 


134  The   Treasure  of  the  Church. 

flesh,  quickly  calling  first  one  and  then  another. 
Quickly  they  pass  ;  because  as  the  lightning 
which  shineth  from  one  part  of  the  heaven  unto 
the  other,  so  is  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man. 
Quickly  they  pass  ;  for  they  are  as  the  words  of 
Moses,  when  the  Lord  came  down  in  the  cloud, 
calling  on  the  name  of  the  Lord  as  He  passed  by, 
1  the  Lord,  the  Lord  God,  merciful  and  gracious, 
long-suffering,  and  abundant  in  goodness  and 
truth.'  And,  as  Moses  on  the  mountain,  so  we  too 
'make  haste  and  bow  our  heads  to  the  earth,  and 
adore.'  ...  So  we  all  around,  each  in  his  place, 
with  his  own  heart,  with  his  own  wants,  .  .  . 
with  his  own  prayers,  separate  but  concordant, 
watching  what  is  going  on,  watching  its  pro 
gress,  uniting  in  its  consummation  ; — not  pain 
fully  and  hopelessly  following  a  hard  form  of 
prayer  from  beginning  to  end,  but,  like  a  concert 
of  musical  instruments,  each  different,  but 
concurring  in  a  sweet  harmony,  we  take 
our  part  with  God's  priest,  supporting  him, 
yet  guided  by  him.  There  are  little  children 
there,  and  old  men,  and  simple  labourers, 
and  students  in  seminaries,  priests  preparing 
for  Mass,  priests  making  their  thanksgiving ; 
there  are  innocent  maidens,  and  there  are 
penitent  sinners  ;  but  out  of  these  many  minds 
rises  one  eucharistic  hymn,  and  the  great  Action 
is  the  measure  and  scope  of  it.  And  .... 
you  ask  me  whether  this  is  not  a  formal, 
unreasonable  service, — it  is  wonderful  !  quite 
wonderful.  When  will  these  dear,  good  people 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  135 

be  enlightened?  "  ("  Loss  and  Gain"  \  \th  edition^ 

P-  3270 

This  is  a  long  extract,  but  I  know  of  nothing 
which  puts  the  idea  and  meaning  of  the  Mass 
more  vividly  before  us. 

This  gives  a  great  idea  of  the  elasticity  which 
the  practice  of  the  Church  allows.  Nothing 
shows  the  wisdom  and  beauty  of  her  arrange 
ments  better  than  the  marvellous  attraction 
which  the  Holy  Mass  possesses.  Go  into  any 
great  church  at  home  or  abroad  and  you  find 
people  hearing  Mass,  all  the  morning,  day  after 
day,  year  after  year,  and  never  tired. 

In  fact,  the  Protestant  and  the  Catholic  forms 
of  devotion  take  an  entirely  different  tone.  The 
Protestant  clergyman  seems  to  say, — be  this  said 
with  all  respect, — "Come  and  listen  to  me;  I 
am  reading  prayers  and  passages  from  the  Bible, 
and  I  am  preaching.  You  have,  it  is  true,  all 
these  prayers  in  your  own  books — but  come  and 
hear  me  read  them  out  to  you  and  it  will  greatly 
profit  you."  And  his  people  go  to  church,  as 
the  song  says,  to  "hear  the  parson  pray  and 
preach."  The  Catholic  priest  takes  an  entirely 
different  tone.  "  Come  to  church,"  he  says,  "  to 
adore  our  Lord  really  present  in  the  Holy 
Eucharist ; — a  great  Sacrifice  is  to  be  offered  to 
God,  '  my  sacrifice  and  yours,'  in  which  you 
have  to  take  part.  This  you  can  do  in  any 
manner  that  best  suits  your  devotion.  I, 
personally,  am  nothing,  and  you  are  not  called 
upon  to  trouble  yourself  about  my  words.  You 


136  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

have  to  be  face  to  face  with  our  Lord,  and  to 
Him  you  must  attend." 

This  applies  to  the  Holy  Mass  and  Bene 
diction,  and  all  the  liturgical  offices  of  the 
Church.  In  private  and  popular  devotions,  in 
sermons  and  instructions,  it  is  very  different. 
These  of  course  are  in  English,  or  the  language 
of  the  country,  and  the  people  naturally  listen 
to  the  priest  and  join  with  him. 

The  advantages  of  using  the  Latin  language 
are  very  obvious.  It  is  a  language  which  goes 
on,  substantially  unchanged,  from  age  to  age. 
The  very  words  which  are  now  in  use  were  used 
long  before  any  modern  language  was  in 
existence.  There  was  no  English,  nor  French, 
nor  German  when  the  Mass  was  first  celebrated 
in  the  countries  where  those  languages  are  now 
spoken.  If  it  had  been  necessary  to  alter  the 
Mass  as  the  dialects  spoken  changed  ;  if  it  had 
been  necessary  to  translate  it  into  the  language 
of  every  half-civilized  nation  that  embraced  the 
faith,  it  would  have  been  difficult  or  impossible 
to  keep  the  meaning  unchanged  throughout  the 
world.  The  words  of  the  liturgy  are  not  merely 
words  of  devotion,  they  are  words  of  power, 
words  given  by  our  Lord  as  instruments  of 
great  spiritual  works,  and  the  most  essential 
thing  is  to  preserve  them  unchanged. 

How,  then,  are  we  to  assist  at  Mass?  This 
is  a  most  important  question.  Hearing  Mass 
is  one  of  the  first  of  Christian  duties,  and 
yet  there  are  numbers  of  people  who  take 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  137 

very  little  trouble  to  learn  how  they  are  to 
assist  at  it  with  devotion  and  profit.  They  are 
anxious  to  go  to  Mass,  so  as  to  fulfil  their 
obligation,  but  they  have  very  vague  notions 
of  what  they  are  to  do  when  they  get  there. 

The  first  thing,  obviously,  is  to  have  a  proper 
idea  of  the  Sacrifice,  and  of  the  part  in  it  which 
belongs  to  them.  They  do  not  go  to  "look  on," 
as  Protestants  seem  to  imagine  ;  they  do  not  go 
to  be  attracted  by  the  music  and  ceremonial. 
They  are  going  to  participate  in  the  fruits  of  a 
great  Sacrifice  offered  on  their  behalf,  and  at 
the  same  time  to  take  their  share  in  offering  it. 
"Brethren,  pray  that  my  sacrifice  and  yours 
may  be  acceptable  before  the  Eternal  Father." 
These  are  the  words  the  priest  addresses  to 
the  congregation  just  when  the  most  solemn 
part  of  the  Mass  is  beginning. 

In  order  to  do  this,  and  to  do  it  well,  no 
particular  form  of  prayer  is  required.  You  can 
do  it  by  using  the  words  which  are  said  by  the 
priest  at  the  altar,  which  you  can  find  in  every 
prayer  book  ;  or  you  may  use,  instead,  some 
simpler  form  of  words  in  which  the  same  senti 
ments  are  expressed.  These  are  commonly 
called  "  Prayers  at  Mass."  Again,  you  may 
meditate  during  the  Mass  :  you  may  take,  for 
instance,  any  part  of  our  Lord's  life  or  Passion 
and  dwell  upon  it,  with  appropriate  prayers. 
This  is  an  excellent  method  of  hearing  Mass  for 
some  people,  since  the  Mass  is  the  memorial  of 
the  whole  of  our  Lord's  life.  It  commemorates 


138  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

His  Passion,  but  it  also  commemorates  His  Incar 
nation,  His  Nativity,  and  the  glorious  mysteries 
of  His  Resurrection  and  Ascension.  Some 
people  say  the  Rosary  during  Mass,  and  if 
they  really  try  to  make  the  Rosary  the  medi 
tation  it  is  intended  to  be,  no  devotion  can  be 
more  suitable. 

It  is  very  desirable  and  almost  necessary, 
however,  for  most  people  to  use  a  book  or  some 
outward  means  to  assist  devotion.  You  find 
people  professing  to  attend  at  Mass  without  any 
book,  relying  on  their  own  mental  efforts,  but 
few  can  do  this  effectively,  and  the  practice 
commonly  leads  to  endless  distractions.  Books, 
however,  should  be  used  to  direct  our  own 
thoughts,  not  to  supersede  them  ;  and  no  prayer 
is  very  satisfactory  unless  you  put  into  it  a  good 
deal  of  your  own  mind  and  your  own  words. 

In  order  to  hear  Mass  well  you  ought  to  be 
tolerably  familiar  with  the  liturgy.  You  need 
not  always  use  the  Church's  words,  but  you 
cannot  understand  the  Mass  well  unless  you 
know  them. 

Every  well  educated  person  ought,  I  think, 
to  know  the  Missal,  so  as  to  be  able  to  find  out 
the  whole  of  the  prayers  used.  At  the  present 
day,  a  great  many  people  hardly  ever  use  the 
Missal,  and  can  scarcely  find  their  places  in  it. 
Doubtless  they  think  they  have  found  devotions 
which  suit  them  better,  but  it  is,  I  think,  a  great 
mistake  to  neglect  the  Church's  own  words. 

To  many  it  is  enough  to  know  the  "  Ordinary 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  139 

of  the  Mass,"  which  is  to  be  found  in  almost 
every  prayer  book.  We  may  say  here  that 
all  Masses  are  substantially  the  same.  We 
hear  of  many  different  Masses  :  of  Masses  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  of  the  saints,  and  of  the  dead  ; 
we  speak  of  votive  Masses,  and  so  forth.  The 
difference  between  them,  however,  is  very  small  ; 
the  Collects,  the  Epistles  and  Gospels,  the 
verses  of  Scripture  which  make  up  the  Introit, 
Gradual,  Offertory  and  Communion  vary,  being 
taken  from  the  "  Proper  of  the  Mass,"  but 
all  that  belongs  to  the  Sacrifice  is  precisely 
the  same  in  every  Mass.  The  Mass,  moreover, 
is  always  offered  up  for  precisely  the  same 
general  intention — that  is,  for  the  honour  and 
glory  of  God,  to  whom  alone  sacrifice  can  be 
offered. 

It  is,  perhaps,  as  well  here  to  give  a  list  ot 
the  prayers  and  devotions  found  in  the  Proper 
of  the  Mass,  which  generally  change  every  day. 
There  are  four  sets  of  versicles,  generally  taken 
out  of  Scripture.  These  are  the  "  Introit"  or 
"Entering  in,"  when  the  priest  goes  up  to  the 
altar;  the  "  Gradual,"  between  the  Epistle  and 
Gospel,  so  called,  because  it  was  sung  whilst 
the  deacon  was  going  up  the  steps  to  read  the 
Gospel  to  the  people;  the  "  Offertory,"  a  few 
verses  before  the  priest  offers  the  Host  and  the 
Chalice;  the  "  Communion "  as  soon  as  the 
priest  has  finished  the  regular  prayers  after 
receiving  Holy  Communion. 

The  Proper  contains  also  the    "Epistle"  and 


140  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

"  Gospel  "  for  each  day.  The  Gospel  is  always 
taken  from  one  of  the  four  Gospels,  and  the 
Epistle  from  some  other  part  of  the  Bible, 
generally  from  one  of  the  Epistles. 

On  each  day  there  are  three  sets  of  prayers, 
which  correspond,  namely  :  the  "  Collects,"  after 
the  Gloria;  the  "  Secrets,"  immediately  before 
the  Preface  ;  and  the  "  Post  Communion,"  after 
the  Communion.  Sometimes  there  is  one  of  each, 
sometimes  more,  as  you  may  have  commemora 
tions  of  other  feasts  occurring  on  the  same  day, 
prayers  commanded  by  the  bishop,  and  so  forth, 
but  there  are  always  as  many  Secrets  and  Post 
Communions  as  there  are  Collects. 

The  "  Secrets "  and  "  Post  Communions" 
almost  always  refer  to  the  Sacrifice  about  to  be 
offered,  or  which  has  just  been  offered.  Accord 
ingly,  we  find  that  in  the  English  Common 
Prayer  Book,  the  Secrets  and  Post  Com 
munions  are  omitted,  whilst  the  Collects  are 
retained.  Those  who  compiled  the  Prayer  Book 
evidently  intended  to  leave  out  everything  re 
ferring  to  the  Mass  as  a  Sacrifice. 

Besides  these  there  are,  occasionally,  prayers 
which  are  in  verse  of  some  kind,  though 
generally  called  "  Proses."  For  instance,  the 
"Victims  Paschali,"  for  Easter;  the  "  Veni 
Sancte  Spiritus,"  at  Pentecost;  the  "  Lauda 
Sion,"  for  Corpus  Christi  ;  the  "  Stabat  Mater," 
for  some  feasts  of  Our  Lady  ;  and  the  "  Dies 
Iras,"  in  Masses  for  the  dead.  These  are  read 
after  the  Gradual. 


The   Treasure  of  the   Church.  141 

I  will  now  consider  in  detail  some  of  the 
prayers  used  in  the  Ordinary  of  the  Mass,  as 
this  is  the  best  way  of  understanding  how  to 
join  in  the  Sacrifice.  If  we  see  how  the  Church 
presents  her  petitions  before  the  throne  of  grace, 
we  shall  understand  how  best  to  offer  our  own. 

We  may  divide  the  Mass  roughly  into  three 
parts  :  the  Preparation,  the  Action  and  the 
Thanksgiving.  The  Preparation  is  from  the 
beginning  to  the  Canon :  the  Action  is  the 
Consecration  and  Communion  which  are  con 
tained  in  the  Canon  of  the  Mass,  and  the 
concluding  prayers  are  the  Thanksgiving. 

In  the  first  place,  observe  how  the  priest  begins. 
He  is  about  to  perform  the  most  solemn  office 
which  can  be  committed  to  men.  He  is  to  stand 
before  the  altar  in  the  person  of  Christ,  lending, 
if  we  may  say  so,  his  tongue  and  his  hands  to 
our  Lord,  Who  as  the  Great  High  Priest,  exer 
cises  His  ministry  through  His  representative. 
He  is  clothed  in  those  venerable  and  sacred 
vestments,  which  have  been  used  by  the  Church 
for  so  many  ages.  They  represent  the  vest 
ments  of  the  High  Priest  in  the  Old  Law,  when 
he  was  to  enter  into  the  Holy  of  Holies  :  well 
may  they  do  so,  since  the  Holy  of  Holies  was 
but  a  type  of  the  Christian  altar  ! 

Before  the  priest  takes  upon  himself  so  high 
an  office,  it  is  becoming  that,  for  a  few  moments, 
he  should  stand  at  the  foot  of  the  altar  in  his 
own  character  as  a  poor  sinner:  "I  will  go 
unto  the  Altar  of  God  :  of  God  Who  giveth  joy 


142  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

to  my  youth."  This  is  the  keynote  of  the  whole 
psalm  he  recites  (Ps.  xlii).  First,  he  asks 
for  a  favourable  judgment:  " Judge  me,  O 
God."  A  judgment,  as  the  Psalmist  says  : 
"  According  to  the  judgment  of  those  who 
love  Thy  Name  "  (Ps.  cxviii.  132).  Then  he 
petitions  for  light:  "  Send  forth  Thy  light  and 
Thy  truth."  He  is  approaching  to  Him  Who 
4 *  dwells  in  light  inaccessible,"  and  he  begs  for 
some  ray  of  that  divine  light.  "  Hope  in  God, 
for  I  will  still  give  praise  to  Him,  the  Salvation 
of  my  countenance  and  my  God  "  :  deeply  as  he 
feels  his  unworthiness,  still  he  hopes  and  desires 
to  confess  to  the  Lord  and  "  sing  His  praises  on 
the  harp." 

Can  we  begin  our  prayer  in  any  better  way 
than  this?  "  Before  prayer,  prepare  thy  soul, 
and  be  not  like  a  man  that  temptethGod  "  (Ecclus. 
xviii.  23).  So  says  Holy  Scripture,  and  certainly 
many  of  our  prayers  are  spoiled  for  want  of  due 
preparation.  The  first  idea  of  prayer  is  to  go  up 
to  the  mountain  of  God  ;  to  present  ourselves  on 
His  holy  hill,  to  adore  and  hold  communion  with 
Him  ;  and  this  is  specially  the  idea  of  Holy 
Mass. 

We  ought,  then,  to  begin  our  prayers  by 
endeavouring  mentally  to  ascend  to  that  moun 
tain  and  enter  that  presence.  "  Who  shall 
ascend  into  the  mountain  of  the  Lord,  or  who 
shall  stand  in  His  holy  place?  The  innocent  ol 
hands  and  the  clean  of  heart"  (Ps.  xxiii.  3,  4). 
How  zealously  should  we  endeavour  to  purify 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  143 

our  hearts  before  entering  into  the  presence  of 
God.  This  is  what  the  priest  does  before  he 
begins  Mass  :  he  recites  the  "  Confiteor," 
declaring  himself  to  be  a  sinner  before  God  and 
the  whole  host  of  heaven,  especially  before  the 
holy  apostles,  the  first  priests,  whose  priestly 
office  he  now  holds — those  apostles  whom  our 
Lord  appointed  to  "  sit  on  twelve  thrones, 
judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel "  (St.  Matt, 
xix.  28). 

First,  the  priest,  and  then  all  the  people 
present,  by  the  minister  who  represents  them, 
declare  that  they  have  sinned  by  thought,  word 
and  deed,  and  ask  for  pardon,  absolution  and 
remission  of  their  sins  ;  and  when  he  goes  up 
to  the  altar  the  priest  says  :  "  Take  away  from 
us  our  iniquities,  we  beseech  Thee,  O  Lord,  that 
we  may  be  worthy  with  pure  minds  to  enter  into 
the  Holy  of  Holies." 

The  same  idea  is  expressed  in  the  "  Kyrie," 
which  is  recited  a  little  later  :  this  is  the  three 
fold  petition  for  mercy  to  the  three  Persons 
of  the  Blessed  Trinity,  which  the  priest  makes 
immediately  after  the  "  Introit,"  the  entrance 
prayer  with  which  the  Mass  begins.  The 
Kyrie  is  in  Greek,  and  seems  a  survival 
from  the  time  when  Greek  was  used  as  well  as 
Latin  in  the  Western  Church. 

The  "Gloria  in  Excelsis  "  is  said  everyday 
except  in  penitential  times,  and  at  votive  Masses 
and  Masses  for  the  dead.  In  this  glorious 
canticle  of  the  angels,  the  priest  offers  that  tribute 


144  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

of  praise  from  himself  and  his  people,  which  is 
the  daily  debt  of  man  to  God.  "  Hope  in  God, 
for  I  will  still  'give  praise  to  Him."  "  We  praise 
Thee,  we  bless  Thee,  we  adore  Thee,  we  glorify 
Thee,  we  give  Thee  thanks  for  Thy  great  glory  : 
O  Lord  God,  heavenly  King,  God  the  Father 
Almighty.  Thou  only  art  holy,  Thou  only  art 
Lord,  Thou  only  art  most  high."  Can  any 
human  words  rise  more  like  incense  before  God, 
or  more  suitably  usher  in  the  great  Sacrifice  of 
Praise? 

The  "Nicene"  Creed  comes  after  the  Gospel  on 
all  Sundays  and  most  of  the  principal  feasts  ; 
and  especially  on  the  feasts  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  Mary,  of  the  Apostles,  and  doctors  of 
the  Church,  but  not  on  other  days.  These 
prayers  form  the  first  part  of  the  preparation  for 
the  Sacrifice. 

After  this  we  come  to  the  "  Oblation,"  that  is 
the  preparation  and  offering  of  the  bread  and 
wine  which  are  to  be  consecrated.  The  priest 
says  :  "  Accept,  O  Holy  Father,  Almighty  and 
Eternal  God,  this  immaculate  Host,  which  I  Thy 
unworthy  servant  offer  unto  Thee,  my  Living 
and  true  God,  for  my  innumerable  sins,  offences, 
and  negligences,  and  for  all  here  present." 
4 '  This  immaculate  Host,"  not  as  mere  bread 
and  wine,  but  as  that  which  is  presently  to  be 
changed  into  the  Body  and  Blood  of  our  Lord, 
in  order  that,  as  the  next  prayer  says,  "  by  the 
mystery  of  this  water  and  wine,  we  may  be 
made  partakers  of  His  Divinity,  who  vouch- 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  145 

safed  to  become  partaker  of  our  humanity."  The 
priest  then  offers  the  Chalice  with  the  words  : 
"We  offer  unto  Thee,  O  Lord,  the  Chalice  of 
Salvation,  beseeching  Thy  clemency,  that,  in  the 
sight  of  Thy  Divine  Majesty,  it  may  ascend 
with  the  odour  of  sweetness  for  our  salvation 
and  that  of  the  whole  world." 

What  can  the  Chalice  of  Salvation  be  but  the 
Blood  of  Christ  once  more  poured  out  mystically 
for  us  in  Sacrifice  ?  In  every  line  of  these 
prayers,  and  throughout  the  Mass,  we  read  or 
sacrifice  to  God  —  the  highest  and  greatest 
sacrifice  ever  offered  to  Him — the  sacrifice  of 
the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ. 

The  Oblation  concludes  with  a  beautiful 
prayer,  which  should  be  often  on  our  lips  : 
"In  the  spirit  of  humility,  and  with  a  contrite 
heart,  let  us  be  received  by  Thee,  O  Lord  :  and 
grant  that  the  Sacrifice  we  offer  in  Thy  sight, 
may  be  pleasing  to  Thee,  O  Lord  God.  Come  ! 
O  Sanctifier,  Almighty  and  Eternal  God,  and 
bless  this  Sacrifice  prepared  to  Thy  Holy 
Name." 

May  we  not  here  think  of  the  prophet  Elias, 
how  he  "built  with  the  stones  an  altar  to  the  name 
of  the  Lord,"  and  poured  water  on  "  the  burnt 
offering  and  upon  the  wood,"  and  "  the  fire  of 
the  Lord  fell  and  consumed  the  holocaust,  and 
the  wood,  and  the  stones,  and  the  dust,  and  licked 
up  the  water  that  was  in  the  trench  "  ?  (3  Kings 
xviii.  32-38).  So  the  Church  prepares  her 
sacrifice  that  the  fire  of  God  may  descend  and 

ii 


146  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

transform  the  things  offered  into  a  sacrifice 
worthy  of  Himself. 

At  High  Mass  now  comes  the  solemn 
incensing  of  the  altar,  and  it  will  be  well  to 
say  a  word  about  the  use  of  incense,  especially 
as  it  has  taken  such  a  prominent  place  in  the 
controversies  of  the  day.  Burning  incense  is  one 
of  the  oldest  and  commonest  ways  of  showing 
reverence  to  God.  We  constantly  read  of  the 
altar  of  incense,  and  of  the  offering  of  incense, 
in  Holy  Scripture,  and  it  seems  to  have  been 
generally  used  amongst  all  pagan  nations  with 
the  same  idea. 

The  feeling  of  the  Church  can  best  be  seen 
from  the  prayers  used  in  the  blessing  and 
offering  up  of  the  incense  :  "  May  the  Lord, 
by  the  intercession  of  Blessed  Michael  the 
Archangel,  standing  at  the  right  hand  of  the 
altar  of  incense,  and  of  all  His  elect,  bless  this 
incense,  and  receive  it  as  an  odour  of  sweetness." 
"  Let  my  prayer,  O  Lord,  ascend  like  incense  in 
Thy  sight,  and  the  lifting  up  of  my  hands  be  as 
an  evening  sacrifice." 

The  burning  of  incense  takes  us  back  to  the 
ancient ' '  altar  of  incense"  (Exod.  xxx.),  and  at  the 
same  time  is  an  emblem  of  prayer,  which  ought  to 
rise  before  the  throne  of  God  as  a  sweet  savour. 
May  we  say  that  it  ought  to  come  from  a 
burning  heart,  as  the  incense  does  from  the  hot 
coals  ? 

St.  John,  in  his  vision,  tells  us  that :  "  Another 
angel  came  and  stood  before  the  altar,  having  a 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  147 

golden  censer  :  and  there  was  given  to  him  much 
incense  that  he  should  offer  of  the  prayers  of  all 
the  saints  upon  the  golden  altar,  which  is  before 
the  throne  of  God.  And  the  smoke  of  the 
incense  of  the  prayers  of  the  saints  ascended 
up  before  God,  from  the  hand  of  the  angel  " 
(Apoc.  viii.  3,  4). 

The  Church  uses  incense,  first,  as  a  mark  of 
reverence  to  the  Blessed  Sacrament.  At  Bene 
diction  and  Exposition  of  the  Blessed  Sacra 
ment,  the  first  thing  is  for  the  priest  to  incense 
the  Blessed  Sacrament  on  his  knees.  Can 
anything  be  more  suitable  and  appropriate  as 
a  mark  of  reverence  ?  If  we  have  amongst  us 
the  Real  Presence  of  Jesus  Christ,  it  is  clear 
that  we  cannot  avoid  these  or  similar  signs  of 
homage  ;  on  the  other  hand,  if  we  have  nothing- 
particular  to  venerate,  incense  would  certainly 
seem  superfluous. 

Besides  this,  however,  incensing  is  used  as  a 
mark  of  respect  for  other  things.  The  altar, 
the  relics  of  the  saints,  the  bishop,  the  priests,  the 
ministers  present,  and,  lastly,  the  people,  are  all 
incensed.  The  censer  is  swung  before  them, 
however,  standing.  It  is  only  the  Blessed 
Sacrament,  and  the  relic  of  the  true  Cross, 
to  which  incense  may  be  offered  on  the 
knees. 

At  High  Mass  the  altar  is  incensed  twice — 
once  before  the  Introit,  and  more  solemnly  at 
the  Offertory.  The  priest  incenses  the  bread  and 
wine  which  have  been  offered,and  also  the  Crucifix 


148  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 


and  the  altar,  with  the  words  I  have  quoted 
above.  At  the  Gospel  the  deacon  incenses  the 
book  of  the  Gospels,  and  at  the  Consecration 
the  Blessed  Sacrament  is  incensed  by  the 
ministers. 

The  High  Mass,  of  which  we  have  been 
speaking,  is  in  all  substantial  things  precisely 
the  same  as  all  other  Masses,  only  at  the  solemn 
Mass  the  Church  seems  to  linger  lovingly  over 
every  detail  in  a  way  whrch  time  will  not  allow 
on  ordinary  occasions.  The  celebrating  priest 
is  assisted  by  a  deacon  and  a  subdeacon  in  their 
appropriate  vestments.  The  Kyrie,  the  Gloria, 
and  the  Credo  are  sung  by  the  choir,  as  if  to 
impress  these  solemn  words  on  the  hearts  of  the 
people,  and  the  priest  sits  down  till  they  are 
concluded. 

After  the  Oblation  comes  the  "  Lavabo";  that 
is,  the  priest  washes  his  hands  at  the  corner  of 
the  altar,  with  the  appropriate  words  out  of 
Psalm  xxv.  :  "  I  will  wash  my  hands  among  the 
innocent  and  will  compass  Thy  altar,  O  Lord." 
This  ceremony  may  well  remind  us  of  the 
"  molten  sea  "  and  the  "  lavers  of  brass  " 
(3  Kings  vii.  23-26.)  which  were  placed  in 
Solomon's  temple  for  purification  during  the 
sacrifices. 

A  very  solemn  offering  to  the  Blessed  Trinity 
follows,  and  then  the  priest  concludes  this  part 
of  the  Mass  with  the  "  Orate  fratres,"  the 
prayer  I  have  before  quoted,  which  is  addressed 
to  the  congregation  :  "  Brethren,  pray  that  my 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  149 


sacrifice  and  yours  may  be  acceptable  to  God  the 
Father  Almighty." 

This  first  part  of  the  Mass  used  to  be  called  the 
Mass  of  Catechumens,  because  those  not  yet 
baptised  were  allowed  to  assist  at  it.  In  those 
days  when  the  great  mysteries  of  the  Faith  were 
so  carefully  guarded  from  profane  eyes,  none 
but  the  "  initiated  "  were  allowed  to  be  present 
at  the  more  solemn  part  of  the  Mass.  Until 
they  were  baptised  they  were  not  instructed  in 
the  mysteries  of  the  Holy  Eucharist.  This  is 
clearly  explained  by  St.  Augustine.  He  says  : 
"  Behold  Nicodemus  and  they  that  were  with 
him  believed  in  Jesus,  but  Jesus  did  not  commit 
Himself  unto  them.  Just  so  are  all  Cate 
chumens  :  they  believe  in  the  name  of  Christ, 
but  Jesus  hath  not  yet  committed  Himself  unto 
them.  Now,  I  trust  you  will  be  good  enough 
to  pay  attention  and  understand  what  I  am 
going  to  say.  If  ye  ask  a  Catechumen  : 
'  Dost  thou  believe  in  Christ  ?  '  he  saith  :  '  I 
believe  ,'  and  he  signeth  himself  with  the  sign  of 
the  Cross.  The  Cross  of  his  Lord  is  marked 
upon  his  forehead,  and  he  is  not  ashamed  of  it. 
Behold  he  believeth  in  the  Name  of  Christ.  But 
let  us  ask  him  :  *  Dost  thou  eat  the  flesh  of  the 
Son  of  Man  ? '  he  knoweth  not  what  we  mean  : 
Jesus  hath  not  yet  committed  Himself  unto 
him  "  (8th  and  gth  lessons.  Feast  of  the  Finding 
of  the  Cross). 

The  "  Preface,"  with  which  the  Canon 
commences,  is  one  of  the  grandest  prayers 


150  The  Treasure  of  the  Church: 

in  human  language,  and  the  old  Gregorian 
chant  which  the  Church  uses  is  amongst 
the  simplest  and  most  striking  melodies  ever 
composed. 

The  Preface  varies  with  the  times  of  the  year, 
and  there  is  a  special  Preface  for  our  Lady  and 
for  the  Apostles,  but  they  all  have  the  same 
solemn  tone:  "  It  is  truly  meet  and  just,  right 
and  salutary,  that  we  should  always,  and  in  all 
places,  give  thanks  to  Thee,  O  Holy  Lord, 
Father  Almighty,  Eternal  God,  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord."  "  With  angels  and  archangels, 
Thrones  and  Dominations,  and  with  all  the 
army  of  heaven,  we  sing  a  hymn  to  thy  glory, 
saying  without  ceasing,  Holy,  Holy,  Holy  Lord 
God  of  Sabaoth.  Heaven  and  earth  are  full  of 
Thy  glory.  Hosanna  in  the  highest." 

These  Prefaces  are  all  found  in  the  Missal,  and 
people  sometimes  lose  their  way  amongst  them, 
not  at  once  understanding  that  one  only  is  said 
each  day. 

At  the  end  of  the  Preface,  at  the  words 
"  Sanctus,  Sanctus,  Sanctus  "  the  bell  rings,  and 
the  people  are  warned  to  pay  special  attention 
to  the  solemn  part  of  the  Sacrifice  now  close 
at  hand.  You  will  then  generally  see  those 
who  have  been  seated  kneeling  down,  and  those 
who  have  been  engaged  in  other  devotions 
putting  them  aside  for  the  moment. 

The  " Canon"  begins  with  a  prayer  begging 
God  to  accept  "  these  gifts,  these  presents,  these 
holy  unspotted  sacrifices " — haec  dona,  haec 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  151 

munera,  haec  sancta  sacrificia  illibata — "as  an 
offering  in  behalf,  first,  of  the  Catholic  Church 
throughout  the  world,  and  particularly  for  the 
Pope  and  our  own  bishop,  and  then  for  all  the 
living  members  of  the  Church,  particularly  for 
those  present." 

Then  conies  the  "  Communicantes,"  the  prayer 
making  mention  of  all  the  saints.  "You  are 
come  to  Mount  Sion,  and  to  the  city  of  the 
living  God,  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  and  to  the 
company  of  many  thousands  of  angels,  and  to 
the  Church  of  the  first-born,  who  are  written  in 
the  heavens,  and  to  God  the  judge  of  all,  and  to 
the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect"  (Heb.  xii. 
22-23).  The  Catholic  Church  cannot  on  solemn 
occasions  approach  to  the  throne  of  God,  and 
ignore  and  forget  that  glorious  body  of  saints 
and  angels  which  surround  His  throne.  They 
are  her  members  by  the  communion  of  saints, 
and  she  must  come  before  the  great  Creator 
joining  hands  and  voices  with  the  citizens  of 
that  blessed  kingdom — "Communicating  and 
honouring  in  the  first  place  the  memory  of  the 
glorious  and  ever  Virgin  Mary,  of  all  the  blessed 
apostles  and  martyrs,  and  all  the  saints."  The 
great  sacrifice  is  to  be  offered  up  in  the  presence 
of  the  whole  Court  of  Heaven,  and  the  Church  on 
earth  calls  on  her  glorified  brethren  to  join  with 
her  in  offering  it. 

And  now  the  priest  spreads  his  hands  over 
the  chalice,  and  prays  the  Lord  to  "accept  this 
oblation  of  our  service,"  and  "to  dispose  our 


152  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

days  in  Thy  peace,  and  to  command  us  to  be 
delivered  from  eternal  damnation,  and  to  be 
numbered  in  the  flock  of  Thy  elect." 

May  we  not  consider  the  priest,  in  this  action, 
as  laying  upon  that  Sacred  Victim  the  burden 
of  our  sins  and  troubles,  that  He  may  make 
atonement  for  them?  Then  comes  the  prayer 
that  this  oblation  may  "  become  to  us  the  Body 
and  Blood  of  Thy  most  beloved  Son,  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord." 

This  is  a  very  characteristic  prayer  and  one  of 
those  found  in  all  ancient  liturgies.  "  They  all 
contain  : 

1.  Prayers  for  the  dead. 

2.  A  narrative  of  the  institution  of  the  Holy 
Eucharist,   which   is  almost  word  for  word  the 
same  in  every   Liturgy,   except  the    Ethiopian, 
and  yet  is  not  taken  from  any  of  the  Scripture 
accounts. 

3.  A  prayer  that  God  will  make   or  change 
the  bread  and  wine  into  the  Body  and  Blood  of 
Christ. 

4.  They  declare  that  a  mystery  and  sacrifice 
are  celebrated.     .     .     . 

5.  The  mixture  of  water  with  wine  is  named 
in  each.     .     .     . 

6.  The  use  of  the  sign  of  the  Cross. 

7.  And    probably,    also,    the   invocation    of 
saints  in  terms  more  or  less  direct."  * 

When  the  priest  extends  his  hands  over  the 

*  Faith  of  Catholics,  Vol.  //.,  779. 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  153 

chalice,  the  bell  rings — the  warning  bell,  it  is 
sometimes  called.  This  gives  notice  that  the 
"  Consecration  "is  immediately  at  hand,  and  you 
then  see  every  head  bowed,  waiting  to  adore 
our  Lord  the  moment  that  He  comes  on  the 
altar. 

In  the  solemn  silence  that  follows,  the  priest 
secretly  pronounces  the  words  of  Consecration — 
our  Lord's  own  words — and  immediately  kneels 
in  adoration,  elevates  the  Sacred  Host,  and 
kneels  again.  Then,  in  the  same  way,  follows 
the  Consecration  of  the  Chalice.  We  thus  pay 
our  Lord  a  double  adoration  :  first,  under  the 
appearance  of  bread,  and  then  under  the  appear 
ance  of  wine  in  the  chalice,  and  we  remember 
that  this  double  Consecration  was  instituted  by 
Him  as  His  mystical  death,  and  as  the  renewal 
of  the  pouring  out  of  His  Precious  Blood. 

The  prayers  that  follow  the  Consecration  are 
most  remarkable,  and  may  be  considered  in  a 
particular  way  as  the  offering  to  God  of  the  most 
Holy  Sacrifice.  The  Church  says  :  "  Calling 
to  mind  the  Passion,  Resurrection,  and  Ascension 
of  our  Lord,  we  offer  unto  Thy  Most  Excellent 
Majesty  of  Thy  gifts  and  grants,  a  pure  Host, 
a  holy  Host,  an  unspotted  Host,  the  holy 
Bread  of  eternal  life  and  the  Chalice  of  ever 
lasting  salvation."  And,  still  mindful  of  the 
ancient  sacrifices  of  which  the  Holy  Mass  is 
the  fulfilment,  the  Church  herself  begs  Almighty 
God  to  accept  it  as  "  Thou  wert  pleased 
graciously  to  accept  the  gifts  of  Thy  just 


154  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

servant  Abel,  and  the  Sacrifice  of  our  patriarch 
Abraham,  and  that  which  Thy  High  Priest 
Melchisedech  offered  to  Thee,  a  holy  sacrifice, 
an  immaculate  Host.5' 

And  then  we  beg  Almighty  God  "  to  command 
these  things  to  be  carried  by  the  hands  of  Thy 
holy  angel  to  the  altar  on  high  in  the  sight  of 
Thy  Divine  Majesty,  that  as  many  of  us,  who  by 
participation  at  this  altar  shall  receive  the  most 
Sacred  Body  and  Blood  of  Thy  Son,  may  be 
filled  with  all  heavenly  benediction  and  grace." 

In  these  prayers  you  may  notice  that  the 
priest  makes  the  sign  of  the  Cross  over  the 
Blessed  Sacrament  repeatedly  ;  this  he  does  not 
as  if  blessing  our  Lord,  but  rather  by  way  of 
pointing  out  unmistakably  that  his  words 
apply  to  the  very  Host  and  Chalice  before  him, 
and  not  to  something  in  the  abstract:  "a  pure 
Host,  a  holy  Host,  an  immaculate  Host,  the 
holy  Bread  of  eternal  life,  and  the  Chalice  of 
everlasting  salvation."  These  crosses  over  the 
Host  and  Chalice  make  the  meaning  of  his  words 
particularly  plain.  This  is  the  explanation  ot 
a  great  many  of  the  crosses  made  during  the 
Mass.  The  Catholic  Church  does  not  admit  of 
any  indefiniteness  in  such  matters,  and  this  is 
one  of  her  methods  of  making  things  clear. 
It  may  also  be  said  that  although  the  Sacrifice 
is  really  offered  at  the  Consecration,  the  offering 
is  considered  as  continuing  till  the  Communion, 
and  that  these  crosses  are  part  of  the  ceremonial 
by  which  it  is  offered. 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  155 


These  prayers,  then,  we  may  call  the  "  Solemn 
Offering  "  of  the  Holy  Sacrifice,  since  that  made 
at  the  "  Oblation  "  is  only  an  offering  made  by 
anticipation  of  the  Victim  not  yet  on  the  altar. 

We  ask  God  to  accept  our  Sacrifice  as  He  did 
that  of  Abraham  ;  not  as  if  our  Sacrifice  could 
possibly  be  unacceptable  in  itself,  since  He 
always  must  be  " heard  for  His  reverence,"  but 
because  our  dispositions  in  offering  may  be 
exceedingly  faulty,  and  we  would  gladly  share 
in  the  zeal  and  earnestness  with  which  those 
great  Patriarchs  made  their  offerings,  and  we 
gladly  remember  that  their  offerings  had  their 
value  from  that  great  Sacrifice  we  are  now 
actually  renewing. 

Next  comes  the  "  Memento  for  the  Dead."  It 
looks  as  if  the  Church  postponed  all  mention  of 
them  till  our  Lord  is  actually  on  the  altar,  so  as 
to  beg  for  our  departed  brethren  "a  place  of 
refreshment,  light  and  peace,"  in  the  most 
solemn  and  tender  manner  possible. 

And  now,  that  the  whole  Church  may  be 
represented,  comes  the  "  Nobis  quoque  pecca- 
toribus  " — we  beg  that  we  poor  sinners  may  have 
some  "part  and  fellowship  with  the  holy 
apostles  and  martyrs,"  and  that  God  may  admit 
us  into  their  company,  "  not  considering  our 
merits,  but  freely  pardoning  our  offences."  It 
will  be  observed  that  into  this  second  list  of 
saints  are  introduced  the  names  of  those  holy 
women  whose  martyrdom  threw  such  lustre  on 
the  early  Church :  Felicitas,  Perpetua,  Lucy 


156  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

Agnes  and  others,  as  if  they  could  not  possibly 
be  omitted  from  the  commemoration  of  the 
whole  Church,  which  in  this  Sacrifice  presents 
itself  to  the  Eternal  Father,  "  through  Christ  our 
Lord :  by  whom,  O  Lord,  Thou  dost  always 
create,  sanctify,  quicken,  bless  and  give  to  us  all 
those  good  things  :  through  Him,  and  with  Him, 
and  in  Him,  is  to  Thee,  God  the  Father 
Almighty,  in  the  unity  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  all 
honour  and  glory,  for  ever  and  ever.  Amen." 

Then  comes  the  "  Pater  Noster,"  which  at 
High  Mass  is  sung  by  the  priest,  with  a  beauti 
ful  chant  corresponding  to  that  of  the  Preface. 

The  Church  dwells  on  the  last  petition  of  the 
Pater  Noster  and  begs  the  Lord  to  "  deliver  us 
from  all  evils,  past,  present,  and  to  come,  by  the 
intercession  of  the  blessed  and  glorious  Mary 
ever  Virgin  Mother  of  God,  and  of  the  blessed 
Apostles  Peter  and  Paul  and  Andrew,"  and 
"  mercifully  to  grant  peace  in  our  days." 

Then  the  priest  breaks  the  Sacred  Host  and 
puts  part  of  it  into  the  Chalice,  saying  :  "  May 
this  mixture  and  consecration  of  the  Body  and 
Blood  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  to  us  who 
receive  it  effectual  to  eternal  life."  This  break 
ing  of  the  Host  is  the  ceremony  which  specially 
represents  the  Passion  and  death  of  our  Lord 
— "  Thy  Body  was  broken  and  Thy  Blood  was 
spilt."  It  seems  to  call  to  our  minds  the  last 
scene  of  the  Passion,  when  our  Lord  is  hanging 
on  the  Cross  and  His  side  is  opened  by  the 
spear  :  "It  is  consummated"  (St.  John  xix.  30). 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  157 

"  Truly   this  was  the  Son  of  God"  (St.   Matt, 
xxvii.  54.) 

And  now  comes  the  preparation  for  Com 
munion.  It  begins  with  a  direct  personal 
address  to  Our  Lord  on  the  altar.  "  Agnus 
Dei" — "  Lamb  of  God,  who  taketh  away  the 
sins  of  the  world,  have  mercy  on  us."  This  is 
followed  by  three  prayers  :  the  first  is  for  the 
peace  of  the  Catholic  Church  ;  in  the  next,  the 
priest  prays  for  the  forgiveness  of  his  sins  : 
"  Deliver  me  by  this  Thy  most  Sacred  Body  and 
Blood  from  all  my  iniquities  and  from  all  evils"; 
and  in  the  third,  he  expresses  that  fear  and 
trembling  with  which  all  Christians  must 
approach  to  the  Holy  of  Holies  :  u  Let  not  the 
participation,  which  I  all  unworthy,  presume  to 
receive,  turn  to  my  judgment  and  condem 
nation." 

The  first  of  these  prayers  begins  with  the 
words,  "Lord  Jesus,  who  saidst  to  Thy  apostles: 
My  peace  I  leave  with  you,  my  peace  I  give  unto 
you  "  (St.  John  xiv.  27).  At  the  end  of  the  prayer 
the  celebrant  gives  the  "  Pax  "  to  the  deacon,  and 
by  him  it  is  given  to  all  the  clergy  assisting  : 
this  "  kiss  of  peace  "  refers  to  that  special  office 
of  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  that  of  communion  or 
bond  of  union  amongst  all  Christians,  of  which 
the  "Pax"  is  the  symbol. 

The  last  prayers,  with  the  "  Domine,  non  sum 
dignus,"  are  the  priest's  own  special  preparation 
for  Holy  Communion.  After  repeating  the 
"  Domine,  non  sum  dignus,"  three  times,  he 


158  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

receives  the  Sacred  Host,  with  the  words,  "  May 
the  body  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  preserve  my 
soul  to  life  everlasting,"  and  then  the  Chalice, 
with  the  corresponding  words.  The  priest's 
communion  under  both  kinds  is  necessary  for  the 
completion  of  the  Sacrifice ;  so  much  so,  that  if  the 
celebrant  were  unable,  from  sickness,  to  receive, 
another  priest,  if  possible,  must  be  called  in  to 
receive,  so  that  the  Sacrifice  may  not  be  left 
uncompleted. 

The  concluding  prayers  of  the  Mass  are  very 
short,  as  if  the  Church  wished  to  leave  the  priest 
an  opportunity  of  making  his  private  thanks 
giving.  After  the  two  ablutions,  with  their  most 
appropriate  prayers,  comes  the  "  Communion," 
that  is,  a  few  verses  of  Scripture,  and  then  the 
"  Post  Communion,"  the  prayers  corresponding 
with  the  Collects  and  the  Secrets. 

The  Mass  finishes  with  the  "  Ite,  Missa  est," 
or  dismissal  of  the  congregation,  u  the  Blessing," 
and  the*' last  Gospel."  This  generally  is  taken 
from  the  first  chapter  of  St.  John,  concluding 
with  the  words,  "Et  Verbum  caro  factum  est," 
although  sometimes  another  Gospel  has  to  be 
read. 

In  giving  this  sketch  of  the  Mass,  I  have  not 
attempted  to  dwell  on  all  the  prayers  contained 
in  the  Ordinary  of  the  Mass  ;  I  have  only  con 
sidered  some  of  the  most  striking  ones,  to  show, 
as  it  were,  the  Church's  line  of  thought  during 
the  sacrifice.  Every  one  of  the  prayers,  how 
ever,  is  well  worth  study,  and,  indeed,  most 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  159 

of  them  could  be  expanded  into  a  long 
meditation. 

If  you  take  a  few  of  these  prayers  and  dwell 
on  them,  without  attempting  to  keep  up  with  the 
priest,  who  naturally  has  to  say  every  word,  you 
have  an  excellent  method  of  hearing  Mass. 

All  these  prayers  are  so  full  of  profound 
signification,  and  yet  so  short  and  simple  in 
their  form,  that  people  never  get  tired  of  them. 
A  priest  uses  the  same  words  nearly  every  day, 
for  perhaps  forty  or  fifty  years,  and  at  the  end,  I 
think,  he  appreciates  them  more,  and  finds  in 
them  more  food  for  thought  than  he  did  at  the 
beginning. 


CHAPTER   VII. 


HOLY  MASS  (concluded). — DEVOTIONS  TO  THE 

BLESSED    SACRAMENT. 

Externals  of  Holy  Mass. — Money  for  Masses. — "Overloaded 
Ceremonial"  versus  "  Beautiful  Simplicity." — Stone  Altars. 
— Sanctuary  Lamp. — Candles. — Vestments. — Opinions  of 
Hugh  Miller  and  of  the  Hottentots. — Prayers  used  by  the 
Priest  while  vesting1. — Devotions. — Benediction. — Exposi 
tions.  —  Forty  Hours.  — Visits.  —  Confraternity  and  Altar 
Societies. — Holy  Viaticum  and  Last  Sacraments. 

IN  the  last  chapter  I  treated  of  the  Sacrifice  of 
the  Mass,  and  dwelt  at  some  length  on  the 
prayers  and  ceremonial  used  in  the  Western 
Church.  We  must  remember,  however,  that 
there  are  many  other  liturgies  in  which  different 
rites,  ceremonies,  and  prayers  are  used  in  the 
sacrifice,  which  are,  no  doubt,  better  suited  to 
the  countries  in  which  they  are  used.  I  propose 
now  to  speak  of  certain  other  points  connected 
with  the  Mass,  and,  in  general,  with  the  devotion 
shown  to  the  Blessed  Sacrament. 

I  must  first  return  to  a  subject  I  have  already 
mentioned,  which  needs  a  few  words  more, 
because  it  is  the  occasion  of  a  great  deal  of 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  161 

misunderstanding  to  people  outside  the  Church. 
I  mean  the  practice  of  paying  money  for  Masses. 
If  you  go  to  a  priest  and  pay  him  five  shillings 
to  say  Mass  for  you,  is  it  not  very  like  simony — 
like  thinking  "  that  the  gift  of  God  may  be 
purchased  with  money  "  ?  (Acts  viii.  20). 

The  explanation  is  very  obvious.  It  neces 
sarily  follows  from  the  goodness  of  God  in 
allowing  Mass  to  be  offered  not  only  for  the 
Church  generally,  but  also  for  the  wants  and 
necessities  of  individuals.  In  the  Old  Law, 
God  allowed  and  directed  sacrifices  to  be  offered 
for  private  ends,  and  He  has  continued  this 
privilege  in  the  New  Law.  The  question  is, 
How  can  this  privilege  be  exercised  ?  It  would, 
I  think,  be  clearly  impossible  to  suppose  that 
each  one  had  a  right  to  have  as  many  Masses 
said  for  him  as  he  wished.  Could  it  be  imagined, 
for  instance,  that  anyone  had  a  right  to  go  to  a 
priest  and  say:  "  Be  good  enough  to  offer  up 
twenty  Masses  for  the  repose  of  the  souls  of  my 
parents — or  for  certain  objects  which  I  much 
desire  "  ?  If  the  priests  were  bound  to  say  Mass 
for  everyone  who  asked,  and  as  often  as  they 
wished,  it  would  be  an  intolerable  burden.  If, 
on  the  other  handr  it  were  to  be  a  matter  of  per 
sonal  favour,  I  think  it  would  very  largely 
prevent  people  from  having  Masses  said  at  all. 
Men  are  generally  too  shy  and  diffident  to  ask 
very  often  for  personal  favours  of  this  sort. 

If,  then,  our  Lord's  design  is  to  be  carried 
out,  the  Church  must  interfere.  She  does  so  by 

12 


1 62  Ttie  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

saying:  "If  you  wish  to  have  Mass  said  for 
you,  you  must  pay  a  certain  sum  of  money, 
which  I  hereby  fix."  This  sum  of  money  is 
supposed  to  be  the  amount  which  would  suffice 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  priest  during  the  day. 
St.  Paul  says:  "They  that  serve  the  altar, 
partake  with  the  altar  "  (i  Cor.  ix.  13).  And  it 
is  reasonable  for  the  Church  to  ordain  that  those 
for  whom  the  sacrifice  of  the  day  is  offered  should 
provide  the  priest's  maintenance  for  that  day. 

The  sum  appointed  is,  however,  generally 
speaking,  far  from  sufficient.  In  England  the 
Provincial  Synod  has  fixed  the  offering  for  a 
Mass  at  five  shillings,  which  is  exceptionally 
high.  It  is  felt,  however,  to  be  more  than  the 
poorer  people  can  reasonably  give,  and  I  think 
it  is  the  custom  to  say  Mass  for  them  for  two 
shillings  and  sixpence.  It  very  seldom  happens 
that  priests  receive  these  offerings  every  day,  so 
that  there  are  very  few  cases  in  which  a  priest 
could  even  live  on  what  he  receives  for  cele 
brating.  If  one  received  five  shillings  for  Mass 
every  day  in  the  year,  it  would  only  amount  to 
£QI  a  year — on  which  it  would  be  very  difficult 
for  a  priest  to  live  in  the  decencies  of  his  state. 
To  obtain  this  stipend  a  priest  must  celebrate 
every  day  throughout  the  year,  without  making 
any  allowance  for  sickness,  or  for  necessary  rest, 
or  the  many  accidents  which  occasionally  make 
it  difficult  or  impossible  to  say  Mass. 

On  the  other  hand,  che  Church  imposes  a 
heavy  burden  on  the  priest.  If  he  accepts  the 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  163 

offering,  he  is  bound,  under  pain  of  grievous 
sin,  to  celebrate,  and  to  celebrate  in  reasonable 
time.  There  are,  moreover,  many  stringent 
rules  made  by  the  Church  to  prevent  the  possi 
bility  of  any  "  trafficking "  in  holy  things,  so 
that  a  priest  undertaking  to  say  a  considerable 
number  of  Masses  takes  upon  himself  a  very 
heavy  and  burdensome  responsibility.  For 
example,  I  think  few  priests  would  like  to  accept 
;£ioo,  with  the  obligation  of  saying  the  corre 
sponding  number  of  Masses.  Of  course,  if  the 
priest  could  divide  the  money — and  the  obliga 
tion — with  fifteen  or  twenty  other  priests,  it 
would  be  a  great  boon  ;  but  if  he  had  to  say 
them  all  himself,  and  continuously,  I  think  he 
would  have  great  hesitation  in  accepting  the 
burden. 

Another  point  has  to  be  considered.  Those 
who  wish  to  have  Mass  celebrated  for  themselves 
and  for  their  special  objects  think  that  they 
ought  to  give  something  themselves.  It  is  a 
very  natural  feeling  that  a  sacrifice  for  them 
ought  to  involve  their  giving  something  of  their 
own  ;  and  if  the  whole  burden  of  the  offering  is 
left  to  someone  else,  they  do  not  expect  very 
much  advantage  for  themselves.  Priests  are 
generally  very  willing  to  say  Mass  gratuitously 
for  the  poor  :  that  is,  if  they  are  able  to  do  so 
without  interfering  with  the  obligations  they 
have  taken  on  themselves  ;  but,  as  I  have  said, 
the  poor  generally  prefer  to  pay  what  the  Church 
directs. 


164  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

In  the  Old  Law,  when  individuals  wished  to 
have  sacrifice  offered,  it  was  for  them  to  provide 
the  material  for  sacrifice — the  lamb,  the  turtle 
doves,  or  whatever  else  the  law  commanded  to 
be  sacrificed  :  they  did  not  expect  the  priests  to 
provide  the  things.  The  principle  is  much  the 
same,  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  people  are  not 
satisfied  with  having  Mass  said  for  them  unless 
they  themselves  have  contributed  something. 

However,  I  come  back  to  the  point  from  which 
I  started,  and  say  that  the  privilege  of  having 
Mass  offered  would  practically  become  a  dead 
letter  without  some  such  provision,  and  that  it 
was  obviously  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  make 
regulations  such  as  she  has  made,  and  that  it  is 
our  duty  cordially  to  acquiesce  in  her  ruling. 

Another  point  on  which  I  have  now  to  dwell 
is  the  ceremonial  used  by  the  Church  in  the 
service  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament.  Some  people 
are  much  struck — scandalised,  perhaps — by  the 
outward  display  to  be  seen  in  Catholic  churches. 
You  sometimes  hear  them  talk  of  "  overloaded 
ceremonial,"  or,  perhaps,  if  they  are  not  quite 
so  civil,  of  "  superstitious  mummeries."  In 
fact,  nearly  the  whole  of  the  Catholic  ceremonial 
depends  on  the  Real  Presence  of  our  Lord  in 
the  Holy  Eucharist.  Some  kind  of  ritual  is 
necessary  whenever  men  meet  for  any  kind  of 
public  devotion.  Even  those  who  most  disclaim 
against  ritual  have  ritual  observances  of  their 
own,  and  are  most  particular  in  observing 
them. 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  165 

But  when  you  get  beyond  this  meagre  cere 
monial,  and  you  have  splendid  churches  and 
gorgeously-ornamented  altars,  you  have  a  cere 
monial  which  means  a  great  deal  more.  It  must 
represent  some  special  presence  of  God,  or  it 
would  be  unmeaning.  The  moment  you  believe 
in  the  real,  actual  Presence  of  God  on  earth, 
you  have  an  ample  justification  for  every  orna 
ment  and  every  beauty  you  can  collect  together. 
You  have  a  splendid  church  on  which  the  wealth 
and  skill  of  generations,  perhaps,  have  been 
lavished.  If  it  has  been  built  as  the  House  of 
God  on  earth,  this  is  perfectly  intelligible  ;  but 
what  can  be  more  absurd  than  an  elaborate  and 
costly  meeting-house?  Make  it  comfortable  by 
all  means  ;  let  it  be  well  warmed  and  well  lighted, 
but  splendid  decorations  are  quite  without 
meaning. 

The  very  fabric  of  the  church  suggests  the 
presence  of  God,  and  the  adornment  of  the  altar 
carries  out  the  same  idea.  In  principle  it  is  very 
like  the  splendour  and  ceremonial  of  a  king's 
court.  It  is  impossible  for  men  to  have  royalty 
amongst  them,  and  yet  not  have  some  external 
sign  by  which  the  king  is  pointed  out  and 
honoured.  The  ceremonial  has,  of  course, 
differed  widely  at  different  times,  but  from  the 
earliest  king  that  ever  ruled  amongst  men  down 
to  our  own  time,  there  has  always  been  a  royal 
display  of  some  kind.  It  is  impossible,  in  the 
same  way,  for  men  to  believe  that  our  Lord  is 
amongst  them  and  not  to  lavish  on  Him  their 


i66  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

most  precious  treasures,  just  as  it  was  impossible 
for  St.  Mary  Magdalen  not  to  pour  out  her 
precious  ointment  on  His  feet  (St.  John 
xii.  3). 

The  church  is  His  palace,  and  the  altar  is  His 
throne.  We  take  that  glorious  Court  of  Heaven 
described  to  us  in  Holy  Scripture,  and  try  feebly 
to  imitate  it  on  earth.  The  candles,  and  the 
incense,  and  the  flowers — the  vestments  and  the 
ceremonial  of  the  priests — what  are  they  but  an 
earthly  image  of  that  "  great  multitude  which 
no  man  could  number  .  .  .  clothed  with 
white  robes,  and  palms  in  their  hands," 
and  of  "all  the  angels  who  stood  about  the 
throne,  and  the  ancients  and  the  four  living 
creatures,  and  they  fell  down  before  the  throne 
upon  their  faces  and  adored  God  "  ?  (Apoc. 
vii.  9-11). 

Protestants  are  fond  of  talking  of  the  "  beau 
tiful  simplicity "  of  their  services.  If  they 
believe  in  no  special  Divine  Presence  in  their 
churches,  they  are  quite  right.  If  there  is 
nothing  there  to  honour  which  is  not  found 
everywhere  else,  they  are  quite  consistent  in 
showing  no  marks  of  honour  ;  if,  however,  they 
do  believe  that  their  church  is  the  House  of 
God,  why  are  they  to  be  admired  for  their 
simplicity? 

Men  spend  large  sums  of  money  in  decora 
tions,  illuminations,  soldiers  and  artillery,  to 
celebrate  the  coming  of  the  King  ;  and  they 
are  right  :  but  why  not  adopt  the  same  principles 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  167 

in  showing  honour  to  the  Presence  of  our  Lord, 
King  of  Kings  ?  * 

But  let  us  describe  a  little  more  in  detail 
the  ceremonial  surrounding  the  Blessed  Sacra 
ment.  The  altar  must  be  of  stone,  perhaps  to 
commemorate  the  tombs  of  the  martyrs  in  the 
catacombs,  which  were  the  first  altars  on  which 
the  Holy  Eucharist  was  offered.  On  the  feast 
of  the  consecration  of  the  Basilica  of  SS.  Peter 
and  Paul  at  Rome,  the  Breviary  says  :  "  This 
church  was  hallowed  by  holy  Pope  Silvester 
upon  the  i8th  day  of  November,  in  like  manner 
as  he  had  hallowed  the  church  of  the  Lateran 
upon  the  gth  day  of  the  same  month.  In  this 
church  did  the  Pope  set  up  an  altar  of  stone, 
and  pour  ointment  thereon,  and  ordain  that 
from  henceforth  no  altars  should  be  set  up  save 
of  stone  "  (5/A  lesson). 

It  is  interesting  to  notice  that  there  is  orie 
exception  to  this  rule,  the  account  of  which  is 
given  in  the  following  words:  "The  Blessed 
Silvester  afterwards  decreed,  when  he  was  con 
secrating  the  altar  of  the  Prince  of  the  Apostles, 
that  altars  were  henceforth  to  be  made  of  stone 
only  ;  but,  notwithstanding  this,  the  Lateran 
cathedral  had  the  altar  made  of  wood.  This  is 
not  surprising.  From  St.  Peter  to  Silvester, 
the  Popes  had  not  been  able,  by  reason  of 
persecutions,  to  abide  fixedly  in  one  place,  and 


*  See  Appendix   "  On  the    Use   of   Ritual,"    Credentials  of 
the  Catholic  Church,  by  Canon  Bagshawe. 


1 68  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

they  celebrated  the  Holy  Liturgy  in  cellars, 
burying  places,  in  the  houses  of  godly  persons, 
or  wherever  need  drove  them,  upon  a  wooden 
altar  made  like  an  empty  box.  When  peace 
was  given  to  the  Church,  holy  Silvester  took 
this,  and  to  do  honour  to  the  Prince  of  the 
Apostles,  who  is  said  to  have  offered  sacrifice 
thereon,  and  to  the  other  Popes  who  thereon 
had  been  used  to  celebrate  the  mystery  even 
unto  that  time,  set  it  in  the  first  church,  even 
the  Lateran,  and  ordained  that  no  one  but  the 
Bishop  of  Rome  should  celebrate  the  Liturgy 
thereon,  for  all  time  coming "  (6th  lesson, 
Dedic.  of  St.  Saviour's). 

When  we  say  the  altar  must  be  of  stone,  it 
does  not  mean  that  the  whole  altar  is  necessarily  of 
stone,  but  that  there  should  be  at  least  a  conse 
crated  stone  under  the  middle  of  the  altar,  where 
the  Blessed  Sacrament  is  placed.  This  stone 
must  be  consecrated  by  the  Bishop,  and  must 
contain  relics  of  the  martyrs.  When  a  priest  is 
starting  for  a  missionary  journey,  he  has  to 
carry  with  him  an  altar-stone  of  this  kind. 

The  most  striking  thing  in  the  adornment  of 
a  Catholic  altar  is  the  number  of  lights  burning 
around  it.  There  must  always  be  a  lamp 
burning  before  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  as  an 
indication  that  our  Lord  is  there,  just,  we  may 
say,  as  sentries  are  placed  before  the  King's 
palace.  When  Mass  is  celebrated,  or  even  if  it 
is  necessary  to  open  the  tabernacle  for  a  moment, 
two  candles  are  lighted  on  the  altar.  These 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  169 

candles  are  necessary  for  the  celebration  of  the 
Mass,  so  that  even  missionaries  in  far  countries 
cannot  say  Mass  without  them.  When  we  say 
"  necessary,"  we  do  not  mean  that  these  things 
are  of  the  slightest  importance  in  themselves, 
but  only  that  the  Church  always  insists  on  them 
out  of  reverence  to  the  Holy  Sacrament.  At 
High  Mass  six  candles  are  lighted,  three  on 
each  side  of  the  crucifix,  which  is  always  on  the 
altar.  On  other  occasions — as  at  Benedictions 
and  Expositions — there  is  generally  a  profusion 
of  candles  lighted. 

Why  all  this  expenditure?  We  have  the 
example  of  the  Old  Testament  to  begin  with  : 
"Thou  shalt  make  also  seven  lamps,  and  shalt 
set  them  upon  the  candlestick,  to  give  light  over 
against"  (Exod.  xxv.  37).  If  God  commands 
that  His  tabernacle  in  the  Old  Law  should  so  be 
honoured,  naturally  the  Church  pays  a  similar 
honour  to  our  Lord's  Presence.  Again,  what 
is  our  altar  on  earth  but  the  image  of  the  altar 
on  high  ?  We  may,  if  we  like,  fancy  that,  like 
the  Patriarch,  we  can  see  "a  ladder  standing 
upon  the  earth,  and  the  top  thereof  touching 
heaven  :  the  angels  also  of  God  ascending  and 
descending  by  it  "  (Gen.  xxviii.  12).  Yes, 
from  our  altar  upon  earth  there  is  a  perpetual 
communication  with  that  altar  on  high,  which 
is  before  the  throne  of  God.  "  Command  these 
things  to  be  carried  by  the  hands  of  Thy  holy 
angel  to  Thy  altar  on  high,  in  the  sight  of  Thy 
Divine  Majesty."  What  is  more  reasonable  than 


i  yo  The    Treasure  of  the  Church. 

that  we  should  try  to  make  our  altar  a  poor 
representation  of  that  heavenly  altar,  and  should 
surround  it  with  lights  to  represent  the  glorious 
armies  of  shining  angels  around  God's  throne, 
and  that  we  should  get  everything  precious 
which  we  can  gather  together  upon  earth,  in 
place  of  the  splendours  of  the  heavenly  Jeru 
salem  ?  The  Apostle  speaks  of  Him  "Who 
holdeth  the  seven  stars  in  His  right  hand,  who 
walketh  in  the  midst  of  the  seven  golden  candle 
sticks  "  (Apoc.  ii.  i).  May  we  not,  then,  sur 
round  our  Lord  with  the  best  we  can  find  on 
earth  to  take  the  place  of  these  golden  candle 
sticks  of  which  we  read  ? 

Again,  we  may  say  that  we  like  to  have 
something  consumed — wasted,  if  you  please- 
before  Him.  Men  may  cry  out,  as  they  did 
when  St.  Mary  Magdalen  poured  out  her  oint 
ment :  "  Why  this  waste"?  But  our  Lord  did 
not  consider  it  waste.  He  said  :  "  She  hath 
wrought  a  good  work  upon  me  "  (St.  Mark  xiv. 
4-6). 

And  now  consider  the  vestments  in  which  the 
priest  must  be  clad  before  he  goes  up  to  the 
altar.  Here,  again,  we  have  the  example  of 
the  Jews  to  guide  us.  Before  he  could  presume 
to  offer  sacrifice  or  enter  into  the  Holy  of  Holies, 
the  Jewish  priest  must  assume  that  most  won 
derful  and  emblematic  garb  appointed  by  God 
Himself.  We,  too,  have  our  awful  Presence 
and  great  Sacrifice,  and  it  would  be  indeed 
strange  if  we  had  no  corresponding  vesture. 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  171 

Protestants,  however,  when  they  come  into 
our  churches  sometimes  talk  about  "  overloaded 
ceremonial,"  or,  as  Hugh  Miller  calls  our  sacred 
rites,  "  theatric  solemnities."  He  felt,  as  he  tells 
us,  that  "  the  stoled  priest  of  the  cathedral  was 
merely  an  artist,  though  a  skilful  one." 

It  does  not  seem  to  occur  to  these  good  people 
that  we  are  doing  precisely  what  they  do  them 
selves.  When  they  go  to  an  earthly  court — to 
attend  the  King's  Drawing  Room,  for  instance — 
they  take  care  to  array  themselves  in  the  costume 
prescribed  by  regulation  and  custom.  Nay,  in 
social  intercourse  amongst  themselves,  they 
never  fail  to  dress  themselves  in  regulation 
garments.  But  our  ecclesiastical  vestments  are 
so  "  theatrical,"  so  much  out  of  date.  They  do 
not  remember  that,  by  those  who  use  them, 
these  vestments  have  been  held  sacred  and 
venerable  from  childhood,  and  are  most  closely 
bound  up  with  all  the  solemn  and  tender  asso 
ciation  of  their  hearts.  They  are  not  new  things, 
but  have  been  dear  to  the  hearts  of  Christians 
for  untold  centuries.  The  sentiments  of  some  of 
our  Protestant  friends  about  our  solemnities  and 
vestments  are  a  little  like  those  of  a  Hottentot, 
newly  introduced  to  the  ways  of  civilization. 
"  What  tiresome  ceremonial,  what  inconvenient 
costume,  what  theatric  manners,"  he  would  say 
when  first  he  saw  the  usages  of  modern  life, 
and  such  an  idea  would  be  natural  enough  to  a 
savage  who  had  hitherto  been  clothed  in  a 
blanket.  You  would  expect  educated  people, 


172  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

however,  to  have  more  reflection  and  less 
prejudice,  and  to  remember  that  things  are  not 
ridiculous  because  they  themselves  are  not 
accustomed  to  them. 

These  vestments  come,  in  fact,  from  the  earliest 
days  of  the  Church.  The  Mass  was  naturally 
celebrated  in  the  costliest  and  most  solemn  dress 
then  in  use,  and  the  garments  once  used  for  the 
Sacrifice  were  naturally  considered  sacred,  and 
kept  for  these  solemnities  only.  In  this  manner 
the  priestly  vestments  have  been  preserved  in 
the  same  pattern,  with  slight  modifications, 
through  all  these  ages.  Antiquaries  could  tell 
you  exactly  the  Roman  dress  from  which  each 
of  our  vestments  had  its  origin. 

The  special  vestment  for  Mass  is  the  chasuble, 
without  which  it  is  unlawful  to  celebrate  ;  and 
the  vestment  which  a  priest  uses  for  all  priestly 
functions  is  the  stole.  If  he  has  to  administer 
any  sacrament,  or  to  perform  any  ministration 
about  the  Holy  Eucharist,  he  puts  the  stole 
around  his  neck  as  a  symbol  of  his  office. 

When  vesting  for  Mass,  the  priest  first  puts 
on  the  "  amice  " — a  cloth  covering  the  head  but  let 
down  to  the  neck — with  the  prayer:  "  Place  on 
my  head  the  helmet  of  salvation,  that  I  may  be 
able  to  resist  the  attacks  of  the  devil  ;  "  then  the 
"alb" — the  long  white  linen  vestment — with  the 
words,  "  Make  me  white,  O  Lord,  and  cleanse 
my  heart,  that,  made  white  with  the  Blood  of  the 
Lamb,  I  may  attain  to  eternal  joys  ;  "  then  he 
puts  on  the  "  girdle,"  saying  :  "  Gird  me,  O  Lord, 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  173 

with  the  girdle  of  purity,  and  extinguish  within 
me  the  passion  of  lust,  that  the  spirit  of  con 
tinence  and  chastity  may  always  remain  within 
me."  Above  these  are  the  more  distinctively 
sacred  vestments — the  "  maniple/'  the  "  stole," 
and  the  "  chasuble  " — each  with  its  own  prayer. 
For  the  maniple,  which  he  places  on  his  left  arm, 
he  says  :  "  May  I  be  worthy,  O  Lord,  to  bear  the 
maniple  of  weeping  and  sorrow,  that,  with  joy, 
I  may  receive  the  reward  of  labour."  He  puts 
the  stole  around  his  neck,  crossing  the  ends  over 
his  breast,  saying  :  "  Restore  to  me,  O  Lord,  the 
garment  of  immortality,  which  I  lost  by  the  sin 
of  my  first  parents,  that,  though  I  approach 
unworthily  to  thy  Sacred  Mystery,  I  may  merit 
eternal  joy."  Over  all  he  puts  on  the  chasuble 
saying  :  "  Lord,  who  hast  said  my  yoke  is  sweet 
and  my  burden  light,  make  me  so  to  bear  it  as 
to  obtain  thy  grace." 

These  prayers  give  us  a  good  idea  of  the 
meaning  of  the  vestments,  and  are  admirably 
calculated  to  remind  the  priest  that  he  is  going 
up  to  the  altar,  not  in  his  own  person,  but  as  the 
representative  of  our  Lord,  who  is  the  true 
High  Priest,  u  ever  living  to  make  intercession 
for  us." 

I  must  now  say  a  few  words  on  some  of  the 
other  devotions  to  the  Blessed  Sacrament.  The 
commonest  of  these  is  "  Benediction,"  which  is 
given  in  most  churches  two  or  three  times  every 
week,  and  sometimes — as  generally  in  the  month 
of  October — almost  every  day. 


174  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

Cardinal  Newman,  in  his  sixth  lecture  on  the 
"  Present  Position  of  Catholics,"  gives  a  beau 
tiful  account  of  Benediction.  "I  need  hardly 
observe,"  he  says,  "  that  the  Benediction  of  the 
Blessed  Sacrament  is  one  of  the  simplest  rites 
of  the  Church.  The  priests  enter  and  kneel 
down ;  one  of  them  unlocks  the  tabernacle, 
takes  out  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  inserts  it 
upright  in  a  monstrance  of  precious  metal,  and 
sets  it  in  a  conspicuous  place  above  the  altar, 
in  the  midst  of  the  lights,  for  all  to  see.  The 
people  then  begin  to  sing  ;  meanwhile  the 
priest  twice  offers  incense  to  the  King  of  Heaven, 
before  whom  he  is  kneeling.  Then  he  takes  the 
monstrance  in  his  hands,  and,  turning  to  the 
people,  blesses  them  with  the  Most  Holy,  in  the 
form  of  a  cross,  while  the  bell  is  sounded  by  one 
of  the  attendants  to  call  attention  to  the  ceremony. 
It  is  our  Lord's  solemn  benediction  of  His  people, 
as  when  He  lifted  up  His  hands  over  the  children, 
or  when  He  blessed  His  chosen  ones  when  He 
ascended  up  from  Mount  Olivet.  As  sons  might 
come  before  a  parent  before  going  to  bed  at 
night,  so,  once  or  twice  a  week,  the  great 
Catholic  family  comes  before  the  Eternal  Father, 
after  the  bustle  or  the  toil  of  the  day,  and  He 
smiles  upon  them,  and  sheds  upon  them  the  light 
of  His  countenance.  It  is  a  full  accomplishment 
of  what  the  priest  invoked  upon  the  Israelites  : 
'  The  Lord  bless  thee  and  keep  thee  ;  the  Lord 
show  His  face  to  thee,  and  have  mercy  on  thee  ; 
the  Lord  turn  His  countenance  to  thee  and  give 


The   Treasure  of  the  Church.  175 

thee  peace.'  Can  there  be  a  more  touching  rite, 
even  in  the  judgment  of  those  who  do  not  believe 
in  it?  How  many  a  man,  not  a  Catholic,  is 
moved  on  seeing  it  to  say,  '  Oh,  that  I  did 
but  believe  it ! '  when  he  sees  the  priest  take 
up  the  Fount  of  Mercy,  and  the  people  bend  low 
in  adoration.  It  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful, 
natural,  and  soothing  actions  of  the  Church."* 

Benediction  always  begins  with  the  hymn, 
"  O  Salutaris  Hostia  "— "  O  Saving  Host,  which 
openest  the  gates  of  Heaven."  Then  come 
different  devotions  :  sometimes  the  Rosary, 
sometimes  the  Litany  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  or 
any  devotional  pieces  according  to  convenience  ; 
but  it  always  finishes  with  the  solemn  hymn, 
"  Tantum  ergo  "• 

"  To  this  mysterious  table  now 

Our  knees,  our  thoughts,  our  hearts  we  bow  "- 

which  is  the  special  hymn  of  the  Blessed  Sacra 
ment.  Immediately  after  the  "Tantum  .ergo" 
the  Solemn  Benediction  is  given  to  the  people, 
and  the  rite  closes. 

It  may  seem  strange  to  some  people  that  on 
such  an  occasion  we  should  so  often  make  use  of 
devotions  addressed  to  our  Blessed  Lady.  *  *  Why 
are  not  all  your  devotions  poured  forth  directly 
to  our  Lord,  when  He  is  actually  present?" 

This  practice,  it  must  be  confessed,  comes 
partly  from  this  :  that  in  this  country  we  have 
not  a  very  good  supply  of  suitable  devotions 

*  Present  Position  of  Catholics,  jrd  Edition,  p.  235. 


176  The   Treasure  of  the  Church. 

which  are  sufficiently  well  known  to  the  people, 
and  which  can  conveniently  be  sung  by  a  con 
gregation.  Some  congregations  know  one 
hymn,  and  are  familiar  with  one  devotion  ;  some 
have  other  hymns  and  other  devotions.  There 
are,  unfortunately,  many  versions  of  most  of  the 
popular  prayers,  which  makes  it  difficult  to  use 
them  in  public.  The  Rosary  and  the  Litany  oi 
the  Blessed  Virgin,  however,  are  beautiful 
devotions  for  the  presence  of  the  Blessed  Sacra 
ment. 

The  Rosary  is  a  series  of  meditations  on  the 
life  and  Passion  of  Christ.  What  can  we  do 
better  before  our  Lord  than  lovingly  recapitulate 
the  scenes  of  His  life,  the  joys  of  Bethlehem, 
His  agonies  in  the  garden  and  on  the  cross, 
the  glories  of  His  resurrection  and  ascension? 
We  look  up  to  the  Blessed  Sacrament  and  say 
again  and  again,  "  Blessed  is  the  fruit  of  thy 
womb,  Jesus."  In  the  same  way,  most  of  the 
invocations  in  the  Litany  have  an  immediate 
reference  to  our  Lord.  For  instance,  we  call 
our  Lady  the  "  Ark  of  the  Covenant  " — contain 
ing,  not  the  tables  of  the  law,  but  the  Law-giver 
Himself ;  not  the  sign  of  God's  covenant  with 
one  people,  but  of  His  eternal  covenant  with 
His  fallen  creatures.  We  call  her  the  "  Gate  of 
Heaven  "  -  the  portal  through  which  the  Creator 
of  all  things  came  down  into  His  own  creation. 
"He  hath  set  His  tabernacle  in  the  sun,  and 
He  as  a  bridegroom  coming  out  of  His  bride 
chamber,  hath  rejoiced  as  a  giant  to  run  the 


The    Treasure  of  the  Church.  177 

way"  (Ps.  xviii.  6).  In  the  same  way,  most 
of  the  invocations  have  reference  to  our  Lord, 
and  are  suitable  for  devotion  before  the  Blessed 
Sacrament ;  though  it  would  carry  me  too  far 
from  my  subject  to  dwell  on  them  here.* 

Besides  Benediction,  it  is  customary  to  have 
many  "  Expositions  "  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament. 
This  means  that  the  altar  is  lighted  up,  and  the 
Blessed  Sacrament  is  lifted  up  to  that  conspicu 
ous  place  above  the  altar,  which  is  called  the 
"Throne."  There  it  remains  for  many  hours, 
or  days,  and  the  church  is  open  during  that  time 
for  the  people  to  come  and  worship.  There  may 
be  public  prayers  before  our  Lord  during  the 
time,  but  the  special  idea  of  the  devotion  is 
private  prayer — that  each  one  should  come  by 
himself  before  our  Lord  and  present  his  peti 
tions.  It  is  the  custom  during  exposition  to 
have  watchers  ;  that  is,  to  have  a  number  of 
adorers  coming  in  succession  to  a  particular 
kneeling-place,  to  be  like  a  guard  of  honour 
before  an  earthly  sovereign,  and  to  prevent  the 
Blessed  Sacrament  from  ever  being  unattended. 
These  expositions  are  often  appointed  on  occa 
sions  of  joy  or  of  sorrow,  of  danger  or  deliver 
ance.  Is  some  danger  near — has  some  great 
victory  been  obtained — the  first  idea  of  the 
Church  is  to  call  all  her  children  into  the  pre 
sence  of  our  Lord  to  present  to  Him  their 
thanks  or  their  petitions — to  make  their  acknow- 

See  Rosary  Meditations,  by  Canon  Bag-shawe. 

'3 


178  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

ledgments  to  their  Sacramental  King,  or  to 
implore  His  protection. 

The  most  common  of  all  these  expositions  is 
the  "  Forty  Hours,"  or  "  Quarant'  Ore."  In  and 
about  London  the  Exposition  of  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  is  almost  continuous  from  Septua- 
gesima  Sunday  till  Holy  Week.  The  "  Forty 
Hours"  begins  in  one  church  on  Sunday  morn 
ing  with  a  High  Mass,  the  Litany  of  the  Saints, 
and  a  Procession  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  and 
is  continued  till  Tuesday  morning,  when  it  con 
cludes  with  another  High  Mass,  called  the  Mass 
of  Deposition  ;  and  a  procession  and  the  Litany 
are  repeated.  Another  church  then  begins  its 
forty  hours'  adoration,  and  so  one  church  suc 
ceeds  to  another  during  the  whole  of  Lent.  It 
must  be  said,  however,  that  in  very  many 
churches  it  is  not  considered  possible  or  expe 
dient  to  keep  the  Blessed  Sacrament  exposed 
during  the  night — which  was  the  original  idea — 
so  that  the  time  of  exposition  falls  considerably 
short  of  forty  hours.  Moreover,  most  churches 
find  it  necessary  to  begin  their  Exposition  on 
Sunday,  for  the  convenience  of  their  congrega 
tions,  so  that  during  the  greater  part  of  the 
week  the  adoration  is  going  on  only  in  one  or 
two  large  churches  ;  whereas  on  Sundays  the 
Exposition  is  probably  beginning  in  a  dozen 
different  churches,  which  rather  spoils  the  idea 
of  perpetual  adoration. 

Besides  all  these  forms  of  devotion,  there  is 
what  may  be  considered  the  most  beautiful  and 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  179 

profitable  of  all.  Our  Lord,  on  one  occasion, 
said  to  His  Apostles,  "  Come  with  Me  into  the 
desert  and  rest  awhile"  (St.  Mark  vi.  31).  He 
seems,  in  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  to  address  us  in 
the  same  manner.  The  church  is  left  open  all  day, 
and  from  morning  till  night  you  may  find  in 
the  great  silent  gloom  numbers  of  worshippers 
just  come  in  from  the  hurry  and  business  of  life 
to  pay  their  few  minutes'  adoration  before  our 
Lord,  alone  with  Him — needing  no  ceremonial 
or  priestly  ministration,  but  just  worshipping 
face  to  face.  "  The  Lord  is  nigh.  Be  nothing 
solicitous,  but  in  everything  by  prayer  and 
supplication  with  thanksgiving  let  your  petitions 
be  made  known  to  God  "  (Phil.  iv.  5-6). 

Spiritual  writers  lay  great  stress  on  this  prac 
tice  of  "  visiting  the  Blessed  Sacrament,"  and 
many  books  of  suitable  prayer  have  been  pub 
lished  ;  but  on  such  occasions,  and  in  such  a 
presence,  our  own  words  are  best ;  and  if  we  are 
full,  as  we  ought  to  be,  of  tender  devotion  to 
our  Lord  in  the  Holy  Sacrament,  we  shall  never 
want  words,  for  "out  of  the  abundance  of  the 
heart  the  mouth  speaketh  "  (St.  Mark  xii.  34). 

In  most  churches  there  is  to  be  found  a  Con 
fraternity  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament — indeed,  this 
confraternity  ought  to  be  erected  before  any 
other.  The  object  of  this  confraternity  is  to 
provide  ornaments  for  the  special  altar  of  the 
Blessed  Sacrament — to  find  suitable  candles  and 
flowers,  and,  as  far  as  their  means  go,  to  get 
everything  precious  which  can  be  offered  to  our 


180  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 


Lord.  Still  more  is  it  their  business  to  give 
personal  service  :  to  visit  our  Lord  in  the  taber 
nacle,  to  watch  before  Him  on  solemn  occasions, 
to  go  with  Him  on  processions,  when  He  is 
carried  solemnly  amongst  His  people,  and  to 
pay  Him  reverence  on  all  occasions. 

I  have  only  one  thing  more  to  mention  con 
nected  with  the  Blessed  Sacrament :  that  is,  the 
Holy  Viaticum.  This  is  the  name,  as  I  have 
already  said,  which  is  given  to  Holy  Communion 
when  it  is  received  by  the  sick.  Those  who  are 
in  danger  of  death  are  bound  to  receive  Holy 
Communion,  and  the  Church's  law  of  fasting 
does  not  apply  to  them.  By  danger  of  death, 
we  do  not  mean  necessarily  immediate  danger, 
so  that  it  is  very  wrong  to  postpone  the  Viaticum 
till  the  sick  man  is  in  his  last  extremity.  If 
people  do  this  they  are  very  likely  not  to  receive 
it  at  all,  or  not  to  receive  until  they  are  almost 
unable  to  appreciate  what  they  are  doing.  The 
Holy  Viaticum  is  one  of  the  "  last  rites  "  of  the 
Church,  and  a  good  Christian  ought  to  be  most 
anxious  to  receive  these  the  moment  it  is  clear 
that  there  is  a  real  serious  danger  of  death. 
The  last  rites  of  the  Church  are  :  Penance — the 
last  confession  a  man  is  likely  to  make  before 
he  presents  himself  before  his  Creator  ;  the 
Viaticum,  in  which  our  Lord  offers  Himself  as 
food  to  strengthen  him  in  his  last  journey  ;  and, 
finally,  Extreme  Unction.  This  last  sacrament 
is  the  special  sacrament  of  the  dying,  and  may 
be  given  even  to  those  who  have  lost  con- 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  181 

sciousness.  St.  James  says  :  "  Is  any  man  sick 
among  you?  Let  him  bring  in  the  priests  of  the 
Church,  and  let  them  pray  over  him,  anointing 
him  with  oil  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  And  the 
prayer  of  faith  shall  save  the  sick  man  :  and  the 
Lord  shall  raise  him  up,  and  if  he  be  in  sins, 
they  shall  be  forgiven  him  "  (St.  James  v. 

i4-J5)- 

The    special    office   of    this   sacrament   is    to 

cleanse  the  sick  man  from  all  the  remaining 
stains  of  sin,  especially  those  committed  by  any 
of  the  senses.  The  organs  of  the  senses  are 
anointed  with  the  holy  oil,  with  the  words  :  "  By 
this  holy  anointing  and  His  own  most  tender 
mercy,  may  God  forgive  you  all  the  sins  you 
have  committed  by  any  of  your  senses."  This 
sacrament  has  been  in  use  in  the  Church  of 
God,  as  the  special  sacrament  of  the  dying, 
ever  since  the  time  of  the  apostles. 

When  you  have  received  the  last  sacraments, 
the  priest  is  empowered  to  give  you  the  special 
plenary  indulgence  which  is  granted  by  the 
Pope  to  those  in  danger  of  death.  Foolish 
people  seem  to  think  that  when  they  have 
received  the  last  sacraments,  they  must  die — or, 
at  any  rate,  are  more  likely  to  die  than  before— 
whereas  all  experience  shows  that  those  who 
receive  these  rites  of  the  Church  in  good  time, 
are  not  only  able  to  receive  them  more  profit 
ably,  but  very  often  recover  their  health  in  an 
unexpected  way:  "  The  Lord  shall  raise  him 
up." 


1 82  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

To  come  back,  however,  to  the  Viaticum. 
There  is  something  specially  beautiful  in  this 
last  visit  which  our  Lord  in  His  Sacramental 
Presence  pays  to  His  poor  and  suffering  mem 
bers  on  earth.  In  Catholic  countries  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  is  carried  through  the  streets  with 
lights  before  it,  and  the  moment  the  bell  is 
heard  announcing  His  Presence,  everyone  stops 
and  kneels  down  till  the  Lord  has  passed.  In 
the  sick  man's  room  a  little  altar  is  put  up,  with 
candles  and  flowers,  with  a  crucifix  and  holy 
water,  that  the  priest  may  find  a  suitable  place 
on  which  our  Lord  may  rest.  "  Pax  huic  domui 
et  omnibus  habitantibus  in  ea."  "  Peace  be  to 
this  house  and  all  who  dwell  therein  "  :  with  these 
words  the  priest  sprinkles  the  room  and  the 
people  present.  Then  comes  the  public  con 
fession  made  in  the  sick  man's  name,  and  the 
priest  communicates  to  him  the  Body  of  the 
Lord,  with  the  words:  "  Receive,  brother,  the 
Viaticum  of  the  Body  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
to  preserve  you  from  your  malignant  enemy  and 
to  lead  you  into  life  everlasting."  I  might  here 
say  a  few  words  about  the  Holy  Oil,  the  blessed 
candles,  the  holy  water  and  other  things  of  this 
sort  which  the  Church  uses,  but  they  hardly 
belong  to  my  subject.  These  things  are  called 
"  Sacramentals,"  or  things  having  an  analogy 
with  the  sacraments  ;  and  it  is  enough  to  say 
that  they  are  ways  in  which  the  efficacy  of  the 
Church's  solemn  prayers  are  communicated  to 
those  who  use  them  devoutly. 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  183 

I  cannot  conclude  what  I  have  to  say  about 
the  Blessed  Sacrament  better  than  by  this  con 
sideration  of  the  Holy  Viaticum.  What  can  be 
more  touching  than  to  consider  that  our  Lord 
has  so  ordained  that  His  Sacred  Body  shall  be 
carried  to  all  the  sick  indiscriminately,  rich  and 
poor,  saints  and  sinners — our  Lord  would  visit 
them  all?  "  The  Lord  help  him  on  his  bed  of 
sorrow  :  thou  hast  turned  all  his  couch  in  his 
sickness  "  (Ps.  xl.  4). 

To  each  and  all  our  Lord  would  come,  as  the 
Pastor  to  his  flock,  to  bring  to  each  the  inesti 
mable  blessing  of  His  Divine  Presence,  and 
nourishment  of  that  food  of  immortality,  which, 
as  He  Himself  tells  us,  shall  u  raise  us  up  at 
the  last  day  "  (St.  John  vi.  55). 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


PENANCE,  THE    SACRAMENT   OF    PURIFICATION. 

Penance  and  Holy  Eucharist  intimately  connected. — Words 
of  Institution  plain. — Objectors  and  the  Root  of  the 
Question. — Their  Experience. — Misconceptions. — A  Secret 
Court  of  Mercy. — The  Duly  Appointed  Judge. — The  Form 
of  the  Sentence. — The  Self-accused.  —  Contrition. — Its 
Necessity,  Nature,  and  accompanying-Conditions. — Sorrow 
for  Venial  Sin.  —  Confession.  —  Why  necessary. — What 
to  Tell  and  How  to  Tell  it. — How  Not  to  Make  our  Con 
fession.  — Satisfaction. 

IN  order  to  finish  satisfactorily  the  subject  I 
have  taken  up,  I  must  give  some  time  to  con 
sidering  the  Sacrament  of  Penance.  Penance 
and  the  Holy  Eucharist  are  very  intimately 
connected,  and  there  is  a  marked  difference 
between  them  and  the  other  Sacraments.  All 
the  others  are  intended  for  special  occasions 
only — some  can  never  be  repeated — others  from 
their  nature  can  only  be  received  a  few  times  in 
the  course  of  a  man's  life.  Holy  Eucharist  and 
Penance,  however,  are  the  Sacraments  of  daily 
life  :  we  need  them  from  the  dawn  of  reason  till 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  185 

the  day  we  die.  To  recur  to  a  comparison  I 
have  before  used,  they  are  like  the  pillar  of 
cloud,  and  the  pillar  of  fire  which  accompanied 
the  Israelites  in  their  journey  through  the  desert. 
These  sacraments  are  the  food  and  the  medicine 
of  our  souls,  and  therefore,  in  the  nature  of 
things,  must  always  be  ready  for  use  when 
required. 

There  is  another  bond  uniting  the  two 
sacraments.  We  can  hardly  see  how  our  Lord 
could  have  left  us  His  Body  and  Blood  as  our 
food,  without  at  the  same  time  leaving  us  some 
special  means  of  purification.  At  His  last 
supper,  before  giving  to  them  His  Body  and 
Blood,  our  Lord  said  to  His  Apostles  :  "  You 
are  clean  by  reason  of  the  word  which  I  have 
spoken  to  you  "  (St.  John  xv.  3).  We  see,  more 
over,  that  when  He  was  about  to  work  a  miracle, 
He  first  forgave  the  offences  of  those  on  whom 
He  was  to  bestow  His  favours  :  "  Be  of  good 
heart,  son,  for  thy  sins  are  forgiven  "  (St.  Matt.  ix. 
2).  Such  words  we  find  again  on  similar  occasions. 
Is  it  to  be  supposed  that  He  would  grant  the 
immense  favour  of  such  an  intimate  union  with 
Himself,  without  providing  for  men  some  special 
means  of  purification?  When  our  Lord,  at  His 
last  supper,  washed  the  feet  of  His  apostles,  and 
then  said  to  them:  "  You  are  clean,  but  not 
all  "  (St.  John  xiii.  10),  He  seems  to  point  in  a 
very  striking  way  to  the  necessity  of  a  special 
purification  before  receiving  the  Holy  Eucharist. 

Our     Lord     established     the     Sacrament     of 


i86  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

Penance  in  the  plainest  words  which  He  could 
have  used.  He  says:  "I  will  give  thee  the 
keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  whatsoever 
thou  shalt  bind  on  earth  it  shall  be  bound  also  in 
heaven,  and  whatsoever  thou  shalt  loose  on  earth 
it  shall  be  loosed  also  in  heaven  "  (St.  Matt, 
xvi.  19).  He  uses  still  more  explicit  words,  in 
which  He  shows  in  what  that  binding  and 
loosing  was  specially  to  consist,  when,  after  His 
Resurrection,  He  says  :  "  Whose  sins  you  shall 
forgive  they  are  forgiven,  and  whose  sins  you 
shall  retain  they  are  retained  "  (St.  John  xx.  23). 

If  these  words  mean  anything,  they  mean  the 
Sacrament  of  Penance.  Here,  however,  we  have 
another  illustration  of  the  fact  that  no  number  of 
texts  is  sufficient  to  convince  men.  No  book 
ever  did,  or  ever  will,  teach  men  a  religion. 
The  world  was  taught  the  Christian  Religion,  not 
by  the  Holy  Scriptures,  but  by  the  Apostles  ;  and 
all  the  heresies  were  started,  not  by  books,  but 
by  men,  who  first  went  astray  after  their  own 
ideas  and  fancies,  and  then  led  others  after 
them.  Their  followers  no  doubt  supposed  that 
they  were  guided  by  the  Holy  Scriptures,  but,  in 
reality,  followed  the  idea  given  by  their  founders, 
and  paid  attention  only  to  such  texts  as  seemed 
to  support  their  views. 

Those  who  do  not  accept  the  Sacrament  of 
Penance  do  not  pretend  to  find  any  other 
meaning  for  these  solemn  words  of  Christ — they 
simply  disregard  them,  professing  all  the  while 
to  take  Scripture  as  their  guide. 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  187 

A  very  bitter  controversy  has  risen  about  this 
Sacrament,  and  perhaps  more  foolish  and 
spiteful  things  have  been  said  about  it  than 
about  any  other  doctrine  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
which  is  saying  a  great  deal.  The  curious 
thing  in  the  controversy  is  that  on  one  side  are 
all  those  who  have  accurate  knowledge  and  long 
experience  of  the  question  at  issue,  and  on  the 
other  side,  those  who,  on  their  own  showing, 
have  absolutely  no  knowledge  or  experience. 
It  would  seem  as  if  they  considered  crass 
ignorance  of  a  subject  the  best  qualification  for 
discussing  it. 

I  think  I  may  venture  here  to  quote  a  few 
pages  on  this  subject  from  a  former  book  of  my 
own, "  The  Credentials  of  the  Catholic  Church." 

I  there  say  :  "  Hardly  a  day  goes  by  without 
our  hearing  some  denunciation  of  the  *  Con 
fessional.'  Ignorant  and  excited  people  (and 
very  often,  too,  people  whose  education  ought 
to  have  taught  them  better)  clamour  about  the 
'  presumption  of  men  pretending  to  forgive 
sins/  or  about  the  'horrors  and  impieties,' 
'the  dangers  and  abuses  of  the  confessional.' 
They  never  seem,  by  any  chance,  to  get  to  the 
root  of  the  whole  thing,  which  is  a  very  plain 
and  simple  question,  namely  :  Has  Almighty 
God  established  the  Sacrament  of  Penance, 
including  confession  therein,  as  the  ordinary 
means  for  the  pardon  of  sins?  It  is  obvious  that, 
in  reality,  this  is  the  only  point  to  dispute  about. 
If  it  were  established  to  their  full  satisfaction 


i88  The   Treasure  of  the  Church. 

that  such  was  the  case,  I  hope  and  believe  that 
the  determined  haters  of  the  confessional  would 
at  once  crowd  to  confession  themselves  ;  certainly 
they  would  do  so,  if  they  are  as  honest  as  I 
wish  to  believe  them.  On  the  other  hand,  we 
Catholics  are  by  no  means  so  much  attached  to 
the  practice  of  confession  that  we  should  follow 
it  if  we  did  not  believe  that  God  had  instituted  it 
to  pardon  our  sins. 

"  Moreover,  all  the  alleged  objections  disappear 
when  once  this  point  has  been  settled.  You  are 
of  opinion  that  it  is  injurious  to  morality  ;  but, 
if  you  believe  that  God  has  appointed  it,  you 
must  be  certain  that,  in  the  long  run,  it  cannot 
possibly  be  injurious,  but  must  be  beneficial.  I 
do  not  mean  to  say  that  it  cannot  possibly  be 
abused  ;  there  is  nothing  in  the  world  so  holy, 
or  so  clearly  established  by  God,  that  it  may  not 
be  abused.  The  sacred  name  of  father,  the 
position  of  religious  teacher,  the  office  of  teacher 
of  youth,  of  temporal  ruler,  of  protector  of 
the  weak — all  these  things,  though  manifestly 
appointed  by  God,  have  been  again  and  again 
abused.  What  then  ?  Does  anyone  imagine 
that  the  abuses  which  have  occurred  in  the 
performance  of  sacred  trusts  such  as  these,  even 
if  they  had  been  much  greater  than  they  have 
been,  are  at  all  to  be  compared  with  the  obvious 
advantages  derived  from  them  ?  Just  in  the  same 
way,  if  once  you  believe  the  Confessional  to 
have  been  established  by  God,  as  the  ordinary 
way  by  which  men's  sins  are  forgiven,  alleged 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  189 

abuses,  though  of  course  to  be  deplored,  really 
go  for  nothing  as  an  argument. 

"  It  is  clear,  moreover,  that  the  fact  of  such  a 
conviction  of  itself,  independently  of  its  truth 
goes  a  long  way  to  neutralise  any  danger  that 
may  exist.  That  is  to  say,  the  conviction  that 
God  has  appointed  a  certain  means  for  a  great 
end,  not  only  proves  to  us  that  it  cannot  really 
be  injurious,  but  of  its  own  nature,  to  a  great 
extent  at  any  rate,  prevents  it  from  being  so.  It 
is  very  seldom  that  people  are  really  put  into 
danger  by  doing  what  they  honestly  believe  to 
be  necessary,  and  strictly  their  duty.  In  the 
performance  of  their  duty,  people  often  have  to 
see  things,  and  hear  things,  and  do  things, 
which  would  be  most  dangerous  and  wrong  if 
they  were  done  without  any  necessity.  What 
then  ?  Does  anybody  imagine  that  right-minded 
people,  honestly  carrying  out  their  duty,  are 
exposed  to  any  extraordinary  danger  of  sin,  or 
are  at  all  more  wicked  than  their  neighbours? 
Such  an  idea  would  be  scouted  by  sensible  men 
in  the  ordinary  affairs  of  life,  and  yet  people 
commonly  take  no  account  of  these  consider 
ations  when  they  come  to  talk  of  what  they 
are  pleased  to  term  the  '  dangers  of  the 
Confessional.' 

"  People,  however,  may  be  inclined  to  say, 
*  That  is  all  very  well  ;  but,  in  this  instance, 
the  dangers  and  abuses  are  such  that  it  is  clear 
God  cannot  have  instituted  the  Confessional.' 
Well,  in  the  first  place,  it  is  not  very  safe  to 


190  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

undertake  to  say  what  God  can  have  done  or 
cannot  have  done.  God's  ways  are  not  like  our 
ways — that  we  know  ;  and  we  know  also,  that 
it  is  impossible,  generally  speaking,  for  man 
to  take  a  sufficiently  extended  view  of  such 
questions  to  be  able  to  decide  upon  them  safely. 
Such  a  saying,  therefore,  looks  very  presump 
tuous.  In  the  next  place,  who  are  the  people 
who  make  this  assertion  ?  Now  you  come  to  the 
odd,  the  remarkable,  the  strange  part  of  the 
business.  The  people  who  speak  so  positively 
and  energetically  on  the  subject,  are  exactly  the 
people  who  have  never  been  to  confession  in 
their  lives,  and  would  rather  die  than  do  so. 
They  have  probably  never  read  a  serious,  or 
even  apparently  reliable  book  on  the  subject, 
and  have  no  possible  means  of  knowing  how 
the  system  works.  On  the  other  hand,  there 
are,  in  this  country,  hundreds  and  thousands  of 
people,  of  all  ages  and  conditions,  who  have 
been  in  the  constant  habit  of  confession  from 
their  childhood  upwards ;  there  are,  besides, 
hundreds  who  have  entered  the  Church  in  the 
prime  of  life.  They  then  deliberately  adopted 
the  practice  of  confession,  and  have  persevered 
many  years.  Why  do  not  these  people  come 
forward  and  tell  us  something  of  the  dangers 
and  abuses  of  which  we  hear?  Do  they  do  so? 
I  never  heard  of  one  yet,  unless  he  meant  to 
make  a  livelihood  by  lecturing.  Not  only  have 
they  nothing  to  say,  but,  oddly  enough,  they 
persevere  in  the  practice  themselves,  and  show 


The   Treasure  of  the  Church.  191 

great  anxiety  that  their  children  should  do  so 
likewise. 

"If  ever  their  young  people  neglect  the  practice 
of  confession,  as  unfortunately  happens  some 
times,  these  good  people  imagine,  not  that  they 
have  found  confession  injurious,  and  are  there- 
ore  avoiding  it,  but  that  their  young  friends 
have  got  careless  about  religion,  and  are  going 
wrong. 

"The  case,  then,  is  this  :  Those  who  denounce 
confession  are  those  who,  on  their  own  showing, 
know  nothing  about  it ;  whereas,  those  who 
maintain  it,  clearly  have  every  possible  oppor 
tunity  of  understanding  the  question.  And  yet 
the  public  is  entirely  convinced  by  the  clamour 
of  the  first,  and  does  not  consider  the  evidence 
of  the  second  class  worth  hearing.  If  I  were  to 
commence  a  course  of  lectures  on  seafaring 
matters,  and  the  dangers  and  vicissitudes  of  a 
sailor's  career,  and  I  began  by  assuring  my 
audience  that  I  had  never  been  to  sea  in  my 
life,  that  I  had  never  read  any  nautical  books, 
and  scarcely  ever  spoken  to  a  sailor,  and  that, 
finally,  I  did  not  pretend  to  know  stem  from 
stern,  or  one  mast  from  another,  I  do  not  think 
people  would  pay  much  attention  to  my  remarks, 
or  care  greatly  about  my  opinion.  How  is  it 
that  what  common  sense  suggests  in  ordinary 
matters,  is  just  what  people  do  not  do  in 
religion  ?  "  * 

*  Credentials  of  the  Catholic  Church ,  p.  82. 


192  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

Without  saying  more  about  this  controversy, 
I  should  like  to  deal  with  certain  important  mis 
conceptions  on  the  subject  of  the  Sacrament  of 
Penance.  First,  it  is  spoken  of  by  those  who 
have  never  tried  it  as  a  burden  laid  on  the 
sinner.  If  you  look  at  it  properly,  it  is  just  the 
contrary.  Let  us  remember  our  Lord's  parable 
of  the  Prodigal  Son.  When  wearied  out  with 
his  iniquities,  he  says  :  "  I  will  arise,  and  will  go 
to  my  father."  What  does  his  father  do,  when  he 
sees  him  afar  off?  Does  he  leave  him  to  struggle 
on  as  best  he  can  without  any  assistance  ?  No. 
"  When  he  was  yet  a  great  way  off,  his  father 
saw  him  and  was  moved  with  compassion,  and 
running  to  him,  fell  upon  his  neck  and  kissed 
him,"  and  "  said  to  his  servants,  bring  forth 
quickly  the  first  robe,  and  put  it  on  him  "  (St. 
Luke  xv.  1 8,  20,  22). 

It  is  precisely  for  this  purpose  that  our  Lord 
established  the  Sacrament  of  Penance.  A  sinner 
moved  to  return  to  God,  is  not  sufficient  for 
himself :  he  needs  encouragement,  direction, 
assistance,  and  special  graces.  All  these  are 
afforded  to  him  in  the  sacrament  by  one  author 
ized  to  speak  to  him  in  the  name  of  the  Lord, 
by  one  who  may  say  with  St.  Paul :  "  For 
Christ,  therefore,  we  are  ambassadors  :  God  as 
it  were  exhorting  by  us  "  (2  Cor.  v.  20).  But  he 
has  not  merely  to  exhort  and  direct  ;  he  has  to 
communicate  the  special  graces  necessary  for  the 
penitent,  for  which  the  sacrament  was  designed. 
He  is  commanded  and  empowered,  as  were  the 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  193 

servants  in  the  parable,  to  "  put  on  the  first 
robe,"  by  restoring  to  him  the  forfeited  garment 
of  sanctifying  grace.  Everyone  with  the  slight 
est  experience  knows  how  wonderfully  these 
great  gifts  and  blessings  are  bestowed  in  the 
Sacrament  of  Penance,  and  how  wonderfully 
they  assist  sinners  returning  to  God.  Is  it  not 
marvellous  that  such  an  institution  of  Divine 
tenderness  should  be  spoken  of  as  a  heavy 
burden  laid  on  the  sinner  ! 

Another  misconception  is  the  idea  that  the 
confessional  is  an  instrument  of  slavery,  by 
which  the  priest  becomes  a  despot  over  his 
flock.  This  is  not  so.  The  sinner  must  indeed 
confess  his  sins  ;  but  he  has  unbounded  liberty 
to  choose  his  own  confessor.  He  can  at  any 
moment  leave  one  confessor,  and  betake  himself 
to  another,  and  no  one  can  call  him  to  account 
for  his  change.  If  the  confidences  had  been 
made,  and  the  exhortations  and  good  advice 
been  given  in  ordinary  life,  the  sinner  who 
received  them  might,  perhaps,  consider  that  his 
adviser  had,  afterwards,  some  kind  of  hold  over 
him.  In  sacramental  confession,  however,  it  is 
not  so.  He  knows  that  his  confessor  cannot  in 
the  most  distant  manner  allude  to  what  has 
passed  between  them,  either  publicly  or  pri 
vately.  Unless  he  chooses  to  return  to  the 
same  confessor,  the  penitent  is  perfectly  certain 
that  nothing  that  he  has  said  can  be  used  in 
any  way  as  a  means  of  exercising  control  over 
him,  and  then  only  in  the  sacrament. 


194  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

Now  to  speak  a  little  more  in  detail.  The 
common  name  of  the  Sacrament  of  Penance  is 
"  Confession."  It  is,  of  course,  strictly  speaking, 
an  incorrect  name,  because  the  name  which 
properly  belongs  to  only  one  part  of  the  sacra 
ment  is  used  for  the  whole. 

In  the  Sacrament  of  Penance,  according  to 
our  Lord's  appointment,  there  are  two  parties— 
the  confessor  and  the  penitent — and  there  are 
certain  things  required  from  each  of  these 
parties.  If  they  both  do  what  is  necessary,  we 
are  quite  sure  that  our  Lord  will  do  His  part, 
and  remit  the  sins  of  the  penitent  as  He  has 
promised  :  "  Whose  sins  you  shall  forgive,  they 
are  forgiven."  Our  Lord,  we  know,  never 
forgets  His  promises. 

The  office  of  the  priest  is  to  grant  Absolution  ; 
the  duty  of  the  penitent  is  to  supply  the  needful 
Contrition,  Confession,  and  Satisfaction. 

"  Absolution  "  means  the  words  of  pardon. 
Contrition  is  explained  in  the  Catechism  as  "a 
hearty  sorrow  for  our  sins,  because  by  them  we 
have  offended  so  good  a  God,  together  with  a 
firm  purpose  of  amendment." 

"  Confession  "  is  "  to  accuse  ourselves  of  our 
sins  to  a  priest  approved  by  the  bishop, "  and 
"Satisfaction"  is  " doing  the  penance  given  us 
by  the  priest." 

Now,  first,  we  have  to  observe  that  it  has 
pleased  our  Lord  to  make  this  sacrament  a 
court  of  justice.  It  seems  as  if  He  said  to  us : 
"  My  children,  I  am  the  judge  of  the  living  and 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  195 

the  dead.  One  day  you  must  come  before  me 
to  be  judged,  and  then  my  judgment  will  be 
most  searching  and  severe  :  a  judgment  of 
justice,  which  you  will  find  it  very  hard  to  meet. 
I,  therefore,  establish  a  court  of  mercy  here  upon 
earth,  in  which  you  may,  if  you  will,  forestall 
my  terrible  judgment,  whilst  you  have  still  time. 
This  tribunal  is  a  secret  one,  in  which  you  may 
choose  your  own  judge,  and  in  which  you 
yourself  shall  be  accuser  and  witness  ;  and,  if 
you  will  only  bring  to  this  judgment  suitable 
dispositions,  I  will  promise  to  ratify  the  sentence 
pronounced  in  your  favour." 

What  a  wonderful  mercy  is  offered  to  sinners 
in  such  an  institution  !  What  a  contrast !  How 
awful  will  be  that  judgment  when  u  every  man's 
work  shall  be  manifest"  (i  Cor.  iii.  13) — when 
the  clear  light  of  God  shall  reveal  the  secrets  of 
every  heart,  and  every  man  shall  be  judged 
according  to  his  works  :  when  the  time  of  mercy 
is  past,  and  the  time  for  strict  justice  has  come. 
"  Quid  sum  miser  tune  dicturus?" 

"Unhappy  me,  what  shall  I  say,  and  to  what 
patron  shall  I  pray,  when  e'en  the  just  might 
quake  with  dread  ?  "  ( Bp.  Bagshawes  translation 
of  the  "Dies  Ira"). 

How  shall  I  meet  that  judgment,  when  even 
the  most  holy  have  cause  for  fear?  "  Enter  not 
into  judgment  with  Thy  servant,  for  in  Thy 
sight  no  man  shall  be  justified." 

In  place  of  this  awful  judgment  our  Lord 
offers  to  us  the  most  secret  tribunal  upon  earth, 


196  The   Treasure  of  the  Church. 

before  a  judge  weak  and  sinful  as  ourselves, 
"who  can  have  compassion  on  them  that  are 
ignorant  and  that  err  :  because  he  himself  also 
is  compassed  with  infirmity  "  (Heb.  v.  2).  We 
have  to  appear  before  a  tribunal,  the  secrets  of 
which  are  about  the  most  inviolable  upon  earth, 
and  whose  judgments  can  never  be  used  for  any 
earthly  purpose.  How  can  we  sufficiently  value 
the  privilege  of  being  able  to  anticipate  the 
terrible  judgment  to  come  in  so  easy  a  way  ! 

But  since  the  sacrament  is  established  as  a 
court,  many  things  follow.  The  judge  of  this 
court  must  be  duly  appointed — that  is,  must 
have  inherited  the  power  given  by  our  Lord  to 
His  apostles,  since  such  a  power  could  come 
from  no  other  source.  This,  however,  is  not 
sufficient :  the  judge  must  not  only  be  a  priest, 
but  a  priest  "  approved  "  by  the  Bishop.  "  Ap 
proved  "  is  here  used  in  quite  a  technical  sense. 
It  does  not  mean  that  the  bishop  has  a  high  idea 
of  the  intelligence,  learning,  and  good  qualities 
of  the  priest  in  question,  but  that  he  has  given 
him  "  faculties,"  or  authority,  to  hear  confessions 
in  his  diocese.  This  authority  can  be  obtained 
only  from  the  bishop  of  the  diocese,  or  from  the 
Pope,  who  has  authority  over  the  whole  Church  ; 
but,  without  it,  no  priest  can  hear  confessions 
even  validly,  still  less  lawfully.  The  Sacrament 
of  Penance  requires  both  "  Order"  and  "  Juris 
diction."  Let  me  illustrate  this.  A  man  may 
be  a  post-captain  in  His  Majesty's  navy,  but  he 
has  not,  as  such,  authority  over  a  single  man. 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  197 


Let  him  be  put  in  command  of  a  ship,  and  then 
his  authority  is  full  :  before,  it  was  only  dor 
mant.  So  it  is  with  penance.  A  priest  cannot 
exercise  the  authority  he  received  at  his  ordina 
tion  until  he  is  put  in  spiritual  authority  over 
some  portion  of  the  flock. 

The  spiritual  court,  moreover,  must  exercise 
its  power  in  the  form  of  a  sentence.  This  the 
priest  does  by  imposing  a  penance,  or  punish 
ment,  of  some  kind,  and  then  by  pronouncing 
absolution.  The  penance,  or  punishment,  is  at 
the  present  day  a  nominal  thing — that  is,  only 
some  short  prayer  to  recite,  which  is,  in  fact, 
merely  an  admission  that  we  deserve  punish 
ment,  rather  than  a  punishment  in  reality.  In 
the  early  Church  it  was  not  so.  Penances  were 
then  sometimes  long  and  severe.  We  have,  for 
instance,  all  read  how  St.  Ambrose,  Archbishop 
of  Milan,  met  the  Emperor  Theodosius  at  the 
church  door,  and  refused  him  admission  till  he 
had  performed  a  long  penance  for  an  act  of 
cruelty  he  had  committed. 

The  court  of  Penance  differs,  however,  from 
human  courts  in  this,  that  its  decisions  are  not 
always  effective,  since  they  depend  on  the 
internal  dispositions  of  the  culprit.  Human 
laws  deal  with  external  things,  which  can  be 
known  to  men  ;  but  Divine  law  is  concerned 
Avith  spiritual  things,  which  men  cannot  see. 

The  sinner,  then,  can  himself  oppose  obstacles 
which  will  render  void  the  merciful  sentence 
pronounced  in  his  behalf.  It  is  not  that  the 


198  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

court  has  not  the  power  to  pardon  him— since 
our  Lord  has  given  that  power  without  restric 
tion — but  it  is  that  he  himself  is  incapable  of 
being  forgiven.  To  use  a  common  illustration  : 
if  you  attempt  to  light  a  fire  when  the  fuel  is 
dripping  with  water,  you  cannot  succeed.  It  is 
not  the  fault  of  the  fire  you  apply,  but  it  is 
because  the  fuel  is  incapable  of  burning  so  long 
as  it  remains  in  that  state. 

This  naturally  leads  to  the  conditions  neces 
sary  on  the  part  of  the  penitent.  These  are 
contrition,  confession,  and  satisfaction. 

Of  these,  contrition  is  the  most  important. 
We  say  this,  because  contrition  is  necessary  in 
two  ways.  It  is  necessary  as  a  part  of  the 
Sacrament  of  Penance — or,  perhaps  we  had 
better  say,  because,  without  it,  penance  would 
be  wholly  ineffective.  But  it  is  necessary,  in  a 
much  more  general  sense,  because  without  it, 
no  sin  could  ever  be  forgiven,  either  in  the 
present  dispensation,  or  at  any  previous  period. 

The  Sacrament  of  Penance  is  ordinarily  neces 
sary  for  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  because  our 
Lord  has  been  pleased  to  appoint  it  for  the  pur 
pose  ;  but  contrition  is  necessary  in  the  nature 
of  things,  and  it  would  hardly  be  too  much  to 
say  that  Almighty  God  Himself  cannot  forgive 
sins  without  it,  since  His  doing  so  would  be  like 
giving  His  approbation  to  sin. 

Penance,  as  a  sacrament,  is  necessary  for 
those  who  are  able  to  make  use  of  it ;  but  those 
who  cannot  use  it  may  sometimes  dispense  with 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  199 

it,  whereas  contrition  is  always  necessary.  If, 
for  instance,  you  were  far  away  from  a  priest, 
you  might  obtain  the  pardon  of  sin  by  contrition 
alone — supposing  you  had  a  good  will  to  comply 
with  our  Lord's  ordinance  as  soon  as  you  were 
able.  What  applies  to  physical  impossibility, 
applies  also,  to  a  great  extent,  to  moral  impossi 
bility,  and  we  may  reasonably  hope  that  those 
who  know  nothing  about  penance  as  a  sacrament 
appointed  by  our  Lord,  may  very  well  obtain 
pardon  for  their  sins  by  contrition  only. 

And  now,  what  is  this  all-essential  contrition  ? 
It  is  a  sorrow  for  sin  with  certain  conditions 
annexed  to  it.  First,  it  is  called  contrition  from 
the  Latin  word  "  contero  " — to  break.  We  are 
all  familiar  with  the  expression  "  broken-hearted," 
and  it  is  used  to  express  a  very  sincere  and  deep 
sorrow.  This  word  is  applied  to  sorrow  for  sin, 
to  show  how  real  and  deep  it  ought  to  be. 
"  Rend  your  hearts,  and  not  your  garments, 
and  be  converted  to  the  Lord  your  God " 
(Joel  ii.  12). 

But  you  may  apply  the  word  contrition  more 
strictly,  perhaps,  to  mean  a  breaking  of  the  will. 
The  very  idea  of  sin  is  man  setting  up  his 
obstinate  and  perverse  will  against  the  will  of 
God.  It  is  essentially  a  rebellion,  and,  so  long 
as  man  perseveres  in  his  rebellion,  there  can  be 
no  peace.  By  contrition,  this  stubborn  will  of 
man,  and  this  rebellion  against  God,  are  broken 
down,  and  the  door  for  forgiveness  is  opened. 
To  have  such  a  wonderful  effect,  contrition  must 


2oo  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

have  certain  special  qualities.  It  must  be  the 
highest  kind  of  sorrow.  You  must  grieve  for 
your  sins  above  all  things  :  "  I  beg  pardon  for 
all  my  sins,  and  detest  them  above  all  things  " 
such  are  the  terms  found  in  one  shape  or  another 
in  all  acts  of  contrition.  Contrition  means  the 
highest  kind  of  sorrow,  but  it  does  not  neces 
sarily  mean  the  most  sensible  kind  of  sorrow. 
You  may,  for  instance,  have  a  very  sincere  con 
trition  without  much  of  that  feeling  of  grief  you 
would  have  for  the  loss  of  a  friend.  It  is  a 
matter  rather  of  will  than  of  feelings,  and  con 
sists  in  turning  away  from  sin,  and  turning  back 
to  God  with  an  earnest  and  energetic  will. 

Contrition  is,  as  the  Catechism  tells  us,  a 
sorrow  for  sins,  "  because  by  them  we  have 
offended  so  good  a  God."  This  means  that 
contrition  must  have  a  supernatural  motive  ;  in 
other  words,  it  must  arise  from  the  love  and  fear 
of  God.  No  human  motive,  however  respect 
able,  is  enough  to  obtain  the  pardon  of  sins. 
Such  human  motives  may,  and  often  do,  lead  to 
contrition,  but  they  are  not  contrition.  For 
instance,  a  man  may  most  sincerely  grieve  for 
his  crime  because  it  has  brought  shame  and 
disgrace  on  his  family,  and  greatly  pained  all 
those  whom  he  loves.  Such  a  feeling  might 
easily  lead  him  to  a  true  contrition,  but  would 
not  be  enough  by  itself. 

For  this  reason  true  contrition  must  include 
all  mortal  sins  at  least.  If  you  were  sorry  for 
one  sin,  and  were  not  also  sorry  for  another, 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  201 

which  you  knew  had  grievously  offended  God, 
it  plainly  would  not  be  the  "  offence  of  God," 
but  some  other  motive,  that  caused  your  sorrow. 

Contrition  must,  as  I  said  before,  be  accom 
panied  by  certain  conditions.  The  first  of  these 
is  a  readiness  and  determination  to  do  everything 
that  the  law  of  God  imperatively  requires  at  the 
moment.  A  man  has  committed  an  injustice 
against  his  neighbour  :  it  is  his  imperative  duty 
to  repair  the  injury  if  he  can.  If  he  will  not  do 
this,  he  has  not  real  contrition.  A  man  is 
harbouring  rancorous  feelings  against  his  neigh 
bour  :  in  order  to  have  true  contrition  he  must 
be  willing  to  give  up  his  resentment.  A  person 
may  be  living  in  the  immediate  occasion  of  sin. 
The  law  of  God  requires  him  to  leave  such  an 
occasion  ;  and  if  he  is  really  sorry  for  his  sin,  he 
will  certainly  do  so. 

In  the  same  way  contrition  requires  a  purpose 
for  the  future:  "a  resolution  to  avoid,  by  the 
grace  of  God,  not  only  sin,  but  also  the  danger 
ous  occasions  of  sin."  It  is  hardly  necessary  to 
point  out  how  completely  this  answers  the  old 
absurd  calumny  that  Catholics  could  get  absolu 
tion  for  their  sins  in  advance — that  is,  for  sins 
they  intended  to  commit. 

But  can  you  not  be  very  sorry  for  something 
you  have  done,  and  yet  be  prepared  to  do  it 
again  under  certain  circumstances  ?  Certainly 
you  can  with  some  kinds  of  sorrow.  You  might 
grieve  most  sincerely  at  having  sacrificed  your 
most  precious  treasures  to  save  you  from  ship- 


2O2  The   Treasure  of  the  Church. 

wreck  ;  and  yet  might  be  quite  ready  to  do  the 
same  again  under  similar  circumstances.  This, 
however,  does  not  apply  to  contrition,  because 
contrition  is  essentially  the  highest  kind  of 
sorrow. 

Our  Lord  says:  "  He  that  loveth  father  or 
mother  more  than  Me  is  not  worthy  of  Me " 
(St.  Matt.  x.  37).  So  that  if  one  were  prepared  to 
commit  a  sin,  in  any  contingency  whatever,  or 
for  the  sake  of  any  creature  whatever,  he  would 
certainly  not  have  contrition,  and  would  be  in 
capable  of  pardon.  That,  however,  does  not 
mean  that  we  are  bound  to  put  before  our  minds 
all  possible  painful  contingencies  that  may  occur, 
and  ask  ourselves  what  we  should  do  in  the 
circumstances.  Such  considerations  are  quite 
unnecessary  and  inexpedient.  It  is  sufficient 
for  us  to  be  honestly  and  sincerely  sorry  for  the 
past,  and  to  have  a  firm  purpose  to  do  all  that 
God  requires  of  us  in  the  future,  humbly  trusting 
that  His  grace  will  help  us  to  do  it. 

Our  excellent  Protestant  friends  seem  to  have 
a  very  faulty  notion  of  what  we  mean  by  con 
trition,  and  appear  to  think  that  you  can  be 
really  penitent  for  a  sin,  although  you  are  pre 
pared  to  commit  it  again  under  certain  circum 
stances.  For  instance,  "The  Monk  of  St. 
Mary's  Aisle,"  as  described  by  Sir  Walter  Scott, 
was  very  energetic  in  his  penance,  but  had  no 
purpose  of  amendment.  With  all  his  penance 
for  his  share  in  the  doings  of  the  "Wizard 
Michael  Scott,"  he  was  quite  ready  to  bring  all 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  203 

the  wizard's  spells  to  light  again  "  at  his  Chief 
of  Branksome's  need."  Obviously,  he  had  no 
idea  of  what  contrition  really  meant. 

I  have  said  that  at  Confession  it  is  absolutely 
necessary  to  have  a  true  sorrow  for  all  mortal 
sins,  and  a  sincere  determination  not  to  commit 
them  again.  Without  this  true  contrition  you 
cannot  obtain  pardon.  The  question  arises : 
Are  you  bound  to  have  a  similar  sorrow  and 
purpose  of  amendment  for  all  venial  sins  ? 

I  ought  to  say  that  everyone  who  wishes  to 
make  a  good  confession  should  do  all  he  can  to 
make  the  best  possible  act  of  contrition — that  is, 
to  repent  of  his  sins  on  the  highest  possible 
grounds,  namely,  for  the  love  and  fear  of  God, 
and,  as  far  as  possible,  to  repent  of  every 
thought,  word,  and  deed  by  which  he  has 
offended  God.  It  is  all  very  well  for  theologians 
to  make  distinctions  and  to  discuss  the  motives 
and  extent  of  contrition  ;  but,  in  practice,  if  you 
do  not  try  for  the  best  contrition  you  can,  you 
are  not  likely  to  make  a  good  confession. 

To  be  accurate,  however,  you  are  not  bound 
to  have  contrition  and  purpose  of  amendment 
for  all  venial  sins. 

This  seems  strange  at  first,  and  needs  ex 
planation.  How  can  you  be  reconciled  to  God 
if  you  mean  to  go  on  offending  Him  in  little 
things?  Such  is  the  question  which  naturally 
suggests  itself.  The  distinction  seems  to  be  this  : 

i.  Mortal  sin  and  the  love  of  God  mutually 
exclude  each  other.  No  one  can  love  God  who 


204  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

is  determined  to  do  an  act  which  he  knows  to  be 
inconsistent  with  the  love  of  God,  and  a  rebel 
lion  against  Him.  He  must  choose  between  the 
Creator  and  the  creature.  Venial  sin,  however, 
does  not  exclude  the  love  of  God.  In  our  pre 
sent  state,  a  man  may  love  God,  even  if  he  has 
an  unreasonable  attachment  to  creatures,  and 
has  not  the  courage  to  free  himself  from  the 
faults  into  which  this  attachment  leads  him. 

2.  To  put  the  same  thing  in  a  slightly  different 
way  :  by  a  good  confession  we  put  on  the  "  first 
robe"    of    charity — the    wedding    garment    of 
sanctifying  grace.     This,  if  received  at  all,  must 
necessarily  forgive  all   grievous  sins  which  are 
incompatible  with  the  love  of  God,  but  need  not 
forgive  all  smaller  offences.      If  you  have  not 
sufficient  sorrow  for  them,  they  cannot  be  for 
given,  and  they  impede  the  action  of  sanctifying 
grace,   although    they   do    not   prevent   it   alto 
gether. 

3.  If  a  true  sorrow   for  all   venial    sins  were 
necessary,    it  would    follow  that    no  one  could 
receive  pardon  for  his  sins  unless  he  was  pre 
pared  to  become  a  saint — which    is   a   state  of 
mind  very  much  beyond   the  reach  of  ordinary 
Christians,  however  desirable  it  may  be. 

4.  The  subject  matter  of  venial  sin  makes  it 
practically    impossible   for   ordinary    people    to 
have  any  great  contrition  and  purpose  of  amend 
ment.     They  are,  as  we  have  said,  things  which 
do  not  strike  our  consciences  as  serious  matters. 
They  are  generally  sins  of  weakness  :  we  may 


The   Treasure  of  the   Church.  205 

deplore  our  weakness,  carelessness,  and  want  of 
thought,  but  it  is  difficult  to  have  any  very 
strong  feeling  about  each  display  of  these  feel 
ings.  How  can  we  grieve  deeply  over  slight 
negligences,  irritable  tempers,  small  displays  of 
vanity  ?  We  know  they  are  wrong  and  foolish, 
and  if  we  were  saints  we  should  feel  them  deeply ; 
as  it  is,  we  cannot. 

There  are,  however,  some  venial  sins  which 
have  more  point  and  purpose  and  deliberation  ; 
for  these  we  can,  and  ought  to  have  a  distinct 
contrition  and  purpose  of  amendment,  though  it 
we  honestly  believe  them  to  be  unimportant 
things,  this  disposition  is  not,  strictly  speaking, 
required. 

Now  comes  confession.  We  must  "  accuse 
ourselves  to  a  priest " — but  why  ?  It  may  be 
objected  that  our  Lord  says  nothing  about  con 
fessing  our  sins.  The  plain  answer  to  this  is 
that  this  duty  of  confession  is  contained  in  the 
power  granted  by  Him  to  His  apostles  :  "  Whose 
sins  you  shall  forgive  they  are  forgiven,  and 
whose  sins  you  shall  retain  they  are  retained." 
These  words  evidently  imply  the  commission  to 
act  as  judges.  It  would,  I  think,  be  absurd  to 
suppose  that  such  a  power  was  to  be  used  at 
random,  and  therefore  they  confer  on  the  apostles 
authority  to  act  as  judges.  If  the  King  sends 
judges  out  into  the  land,  the  very  commission  to 
judge  gives  them  a  right  to  hear  the  cases,  and 
implies  an  obligation  to  do  so  even  if  such  a 
power  had  not  been  granted  in  express  terms. 


206  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

No  one  can  possibly  form  a  judgment  about 
our  sins  except  by  our  own  testimony  ;  therefore 
we  must  be  our  own  accusers,  and  the  only 
witnesses  against  ourselves. 

The  first  requisite  of  a  confession  is  "  in 
tegrity  " — that  is,  that  nothing  should  be  kept 
back  that  ought  to  be  told.  Integrity,  however, 
is  of  two  sorts — "  material  "  integrity  and  "  for 
mal"  integrity.  The  first  is  when  all  is  actually 
mentioned  ;  the  second,  when  all  is  mentioned 
that  occurs  to  the  mind  of  the  penitent — that  is, 
when  he  honestly  mentions  his  sins  as  far  as  he 
knows  them  and  circumstances  will  allow.  It  is 
the  formal  integrity  which  is  necessary,  so  that 
no  number  of  unintentional  omissions  would 
interfere  with  the  validity  of  a  confession. 

Obviously,  the  first  thing  required  is  honesty. 
If  a  man  were  to  tell  the  little  things  and  leave 
out  the  serious  ones,  he  would  be  guilty  of  a 
fraud  and  would  make  a  sacrilegious  confession. 
He  would,  as  the  books  say,  tell  a  lie  to  the  Holy 
Ghost.  These  words  are  taken  from  the  Scrip 
ture  history  of  Ananias  and  Saphira.  There 
we  are  told  how  these  people  "  by  fraud  "  kept 
back  part  of  the  price  of  their  land,  and  tried  to 
persuade  St.  Peter  that  they  were  giving  it  all. 
He  told  them  that  they  were  telling  "  a  lie  to  the 
Holy  Ghost,"  and  that  they  were  lying,  "  not 
to  men  but  to  God,"  because  the  matter  was 
one  which  concerned  God  and  not  man,  and  the 
lie  was  told  to  one  who  at  the  moment  repre 
sented  God  (Acts.  v.  i-io). 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  207 

The  same  applies  most  exactly  to  a  conceal 
ment  in  confession.  The  man  most  energetically 
professes  that  he  is  going  to  accuse  himself  of 
all  his  sins  :  the  matter  is  one  which  belongs 
entirely  to  the  service  of  God,  and  is  told  to  the 
judge  who,  by  Divine  appointment,  holds  for  the 
moment  the  place  of  God.  Anyone  who,  in 
such  a  case,  deliberately  conceals  a  sin  which 
he  knows  he  ought  to  confess,  is  exactly  like 
Ananias,  who  "by  fraud  kept  back  part  of  the 
price  of  the  land  "  ;  and  has,  therefore,  as  St. 
Peter  tells  him,  "  not  lied  to  men  but  to  God." 
If,  however,  something  is  omitted  accidentally, 
it  is  quite  another  matter.  Then  the  confession 
is  "  formally"  complete  ;  that  is,  it  is  complete  as 
far  as  the  knowledge  of  the  penitent  goes,  and 
in  that  case  the  sins  omitted  would  be  forgiven 
just  as  much  as  those  confessed. 

The  reason  of  this  is  clear.  The  effect  of  the 
sacrament  is  to  restore  to  us  the  sanctifying 
grace  of  God  ;  to  give  us  back  "  the  first  robe," 
which  necessarily  takes  away  the  guilt  of  sin 
from  the  soul.  Almighty  God  never  half  forgives 
us,  so  that,  if  we  receive  pardon  at  all,  we  are 
freed  from  all  our  grievous  offences.  .  .  .  In 
such  a  case,  however,  the  sinner  is  bound  to 
confess  the  sins  he  has  omitted,  should  he  after 
wards  remember  them. 

Now  we  have  to  explain  what  sins  one  is 
bound  to  confess.  The  penitent  is  bound  to 
confess  all  mortal  sins  :  that  is,  all  the  sins  which 
appear  to  him  to  have  been  grievous.  This  does 


2o8  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

not  mean  that  he  ought  not  also  to  confess 
venial  sins.  He  ought  to  confess  all  his  sins, 
as  far  as  it  is  reasonably  possible.  It  is  easy 
enough  to  remember  and  confess  those  things 
which  have  been  serious  and  deliberate  offences 
against  God,  but  to  confess  everything,  however 
slight  it  may  be,  would  be  an  almost  impossible 
task,  and  would  involve  endless  scruples.  It  is 
important,  therefore,  to  remember  that  it  is  only 
mortal  sins  which  are  the  necessary  matter  of 
confession  ;  that  is,  which  we  are  strictly  bound 
to  confess. 

We  have  also  to  confess  the  number  of  times — 
approximately  —  that  each  sin  has  been  com 
mitted.  In  many  things,  most  things  perhaps, 
it  is  impossible  to  give  any  distinct  number  ;— 
to  do  so  would  only  be  guess-work — we  have, 
then,  only  to  give  what  idea  we  can  of  the 
frequency  with  which  things  have  occurred,  in 
general  terms. 

It  is  necessary  also  to  mention  any  circum 
stances  which  change  the  nature  of  a  sin.  One 
act  may  involve  the  violation  of  two  com 
mandments.  For  instance,  a  lie  injuring  your 
neighbour  is  a  sin  against  truth,  and  a  sin 
against  justice,  inasmuch  as  it  inflicts  a  wrong 
on  another,  and  it  must  be  told  in  a  way  to 
make  this  clear :  otherwise  it  would  be  keeping 
back  half  the  confession. 

The  declaration  must,  moreover,  be  made 
humbly — that  is,  as  a  self-accusation,  not  as  a 
mere  narrative.  It  should  also  be  made  simply, 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  209 

that  is,  by  saying  precisely  what  you  mean,  and 
not  using  words  which  may  mean  anything  or 
nothing. 

In  such  a  case,  it  is  difficult  to  understand 
what  is  really  meant.  It  may  be  something 
very  trivial  or  something  rather  serious. 

It  may  be  said  that  Confession  may  often 
oblige  people  to  mention  very  unpleasant  and 
disagreeable  details.  To  this  may  be  said  :  You 
are  not  bound  to  go  into  any  details  beyond 
those  which  are  necessary  to  explain  what  kind 
of  sin  you  really  mean.  You  should,  besides, 
remember  what  the  Prophet  says  :  "  It  is  an  evil 
and  a  bitter  thing  for  thee  to  have  left  the 
Lord  thy  God "  (Jer.  ii.  19),  and  therefore, 
you  should  not  be  too  anxious  to  shirk  the 
bitterness.  We  ought  not  to  be  bold  in  sinning, 
and  then  so  very  timid  in  confessing  our  sins. 
You  should  remember,  moreover,  that  if  you 
are  too  careful  of  your  own  credit,  and  suppress 
every  unpleasant  detail  that  can  possibly  be  left 
out,  you  cannot  expect  any  useful  advice  or 
assistance  from  your  confessor,  and  so  lose  a 
large  part  of  the  benefit  our  Lord  means  to 
give  you  in  the  sacrament.  It  is  clear  that  no 
one  can  give  advice  worth  having,  unless  the 
circumstances  of  the  case  are  made  tolerably 
intelligible  to  him. 

It  may  be  well  here  to  mention  a  few  of  the 
mistakes  which  people  frequently  make.  The 
first  fault  is  that  of  using  vague  or  exaggerated 
language—  "  I  don't  love  God  as  I  ought";  "I 

15 


2io  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

am  a  miserable  sinner  "  ;  and  so  forth.  Such 
expressions  mean  nothing.  We  none  of  us 
love  God  as  we  ought,  and  we  are  all  sinners— 
so  there  is  no  use  and  no  humility  in  saying 
such  things.  Then  comes  the  fault  which  we 
often  find — that  of  talking  too  much  and  making 
unnecessary  histories  either  about  ourselves  or 
our  neighbours.  It  is  not  in  the  least  necessary 
to  mention  the  sins  of  others,  and,  ordinarily 
speaking,  we  have  no  right  to  do  so.  We  have 
no  right  to  speak  of  the  sins  of  other  people, 
without  sufficient  reason — either  in  the  confes 
sional  or  out  of  it.  There  is  a  story  told, 
probably  invented  as  an  illustration,  of  a  priest 
who  said  to  his  penitent  :  "  For  your  own  sins 
say,  as  a  penance,  five  Hail  Marys  ; — for  your 
husband's  sins,  which  you  have  confessed,  say 
the  Seven  Penitential  Psalms." 

Some  people  always  have  something  to  say  in 
self-defence  ;  they  are  anxious  to  show,  if  they 
have  done  wrong,  that  it  is  chiefly  somebody 
else's  fault.  We  ought  not  to  make  excuses, 
but  should  leave  that  to  the  mercy  of  God  ;  He 
will  make  all  possible  excuses  for  us.  The  dis 
position  to  excuse  oneself  is  not  quite  consistent 
with  a  penitential  spirit.  The  Psalmist  says  : 
u  Incline  not  my  heart  to  evil  words  ;  to  make 
excuses  in  sins"  (Ps.  cxl.  4)  :  a  text  we 
should  have  before  our  minds  when  going  to 
confession.  The  very  idea  of  confession  is 
telling  something  against  yourself.  If  you 
cannot  remember  anything  particular  since  your 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  211 


last  confession,  you  should  make  mention,  in 
general  terms,  of  some  previous  sin,  in  order 
that  the  priest  may  have  something  on  which 
to  pronounce  absolution.  People,  however, 
sometimes  get  so  much  into  the  habit  of  defend 
ing  themselves,  that,  although  they  are  very 
sincere  in  acknowledging  themselves  sinners  in 
general  terms,  they  will  never  admit  anything 
in  particular,  so  that  the  priest  finds  it  hard  to 
give  them  absolution. 

Another  fault  is  when  people  cannot  be  got  to 
speak  at  all,  or  to  speak  plainly,  without  a  great 
deal  of  unnecessary  trouble.  The  more  you  are 
thinking  about  what  you  have  done  to  offend 
God,  and  the  less  you  think  about  yourself,  the 
more  likely  you  are  to  use  plain  and  simple 
language  and  not  to  give  unnecessary  trouble. 

Another  fault  is  that  people  sometimes  cannot 
be  got  to  listen  to  what  their  confessor  has  to 
say  to  them.  Instead  of  attending  to  his  advice 
they  are  still  thinking  of  their  own  sins  ;  that 
there  is  something  they  might  have  explained 
better,  and  they  interrupt  his  exhortations  by 
going  back  to  what  they  have  already  said.  We 
should  confess  our  sins  as  well  as  we  can,  and 
then  put  them  aside  and  place  ourselves  in  spirit 
at  our  Lord's  feet,  listening  humbly  to  all  that 
He  has  to  say  to  us  by  the  mouth  of  our 
confessor. 

There  is  very  little  to  be  said  about  "  Satis 
faction."  The  "  Penance"  is,  as  I  have  said, 
part  of  the  judicial  sentence,  and  the  penitent 


212  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

must  be  willing  to  accept  the  sentence  if  he  is  to 
obtain  the  benefit  of  absolution.  If  afterwards 
he  neglects  to  perform  this  penance,  he  is  guilty 
of  a  sin,  but  the  neglect  does  not  undo  the 
forgiveness  he  has  already  received. 

In  the  present  discipline  of  the  Church  the 
penance  enjoined  is  always  a  very  trifling  thing, 
being,  as  I  before  explained,  an  acknowledgment 
that  we  deserve  punishment,  rather  than  a  real 
punishment.  Would  it  not  be  absurd  to  talk  of 
saying  u  Five  Mysteries  of  the  Rosary,"  or  "  the 
Litany  of  the  Holy  Name,"  as  &  punishment  for 
sin  !  Yet  the  idea  of  penance  seems  to  have  taken 
a  strong  hold  of  the  imaginations  of  our  Protestant 
friends.  They  seem  to  have  a  general  idea  that 
any  priest  may  command  any  Catholic  he  meets 
to  do  anything  he  pleases,  however  unpleasant. 
We  look  on  with  wonder  and  admiration  at  the 
remarkable  things  enjoined  on  the  Catholic 
laity— in  Protestant  novels.  How  devoted  and 
obedient  they  all  are — in  books  ! 

Worse  than  that,  Protestants  sometimes  seem 
to  fancy  that  we  look  for  forgiveness,  not  in 
repentance  and  in  the  Precious  Blood  of  our 
Lord,  but  in  piling  up  practices  of  mortification  : 
so  Scott  says  : 

"  My  breast  in  belt  of  iron  pent, 

With  shirt  of  hair  and  scourg-e  of  thorn, 
For  three  score  years  in  penance  spent 
My  knees  these  flinty  stones  have  worn, 
And  all  too  little  to  atone 
For  knowing1  what  should  ne'er  be  known." 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  213 

What  a  pity  it  is  that,  in  serious  subjects, 
intelligent  people  will  not  take  the  trouble  to 
understand  what  they  are  talking  about,  before 
they  begin  to  talk  ! 

I  can  only  add  that  there  is  no  necessity  for 
saying  your  penance  immediately — before  re 
ceiving  Holy  Communion,  for  instance — unless 
that  is  distinctly  enjoined.  It  is,  however,  most 
desirable  to  say  your  penance  as  soon  as  you 
can,  otherwise  there  is  great  danger  of  forgetting 
it.  It  seems  hardly  necessary  to  say  that,  if  a 
particular  prayer  is  given  to  you  as  a  penance, 
you  need  only  say  it  once,  unless  a  certain 
number  of  times  is  specified  ;  but  one  has 
known  of  people  who  thought  they  had  to  go 
on  repeating  their  penances  till  they  went  to 
confession  again. 

I  have  a  few  more  things  to  say  about  the 
Sacrament  of  Penance  which  must  be  reserved 
for  another  chapter. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


PENANCE,  THE    SACRAMENT    OF   AMENDMENT  AND 
OF    PERFECTION. 

It  helps  us  to  Strive. — Protestant  Objections  answered. — 
Points  of  Self-examination. — Contrition,  the  most  important 
condition. — Frequency  and  Regularity. — General  Con 
fessions. — Form  of  Confession. — Choice  of  a  Confessor. — 
Indulgences. — The  Principle  in  Scripture. — Atonement. — 
Assistance  given  by  the  Church. — The  Precise  Effect. — 
The  Usual  Terms. — General  Recapitulation. 

I  HAVE  spoken  of  the  Sacrament  of  Penance  as 
the  ordinary  means  for  the  forgiveness  of  sins. 
Our  Lord  came  into  this  world  expressly  to  save 
mankind  from  their  great  enemy,  sin.  It  was, 
therefore,  only  to  be  expected  that  He  would 
tell  us  exactly  what  we  must  do  to  obtain  pardon, 
and  that  He  would  do  something  to  make  more 
easy  the  path  of  the  sinner  returning  to  God. 
"  There  shall  be  joy  before  the  angels  of  God 
over  one  sinner  doing  penance"  (St.  Lukexv.  10). 
If  the  angels  of  God  rejoice  over  the  repenting 
sinner,  O  how  dear  must  that  sinner  be  to  the 
Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus,  since  He  loves  us  with 
a  tenderness  infinitely  surpassing  the  love  of 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  215 

any  created  being.  "  I  have  loved  thee  with  an 
everlasting  love,  therefore  have  I  drawn  thee, 
taking  pity  on  thee"  (Jer.  xxxi.  3). 

The  first  work  of  the  Sacrament  of  Penance, 
therefore,  is  to  reconcile  sinners  to  God,  and  to 
restore  to  them  the  garment  of  Divine  Grace. 
There  is  however  a  second  object  for  this  Sacra 
ment  scarcely  less  important.  It  is  intended  as 
a  means  of  improvement,  for  the  sanctification  of 
the  just.  "He  that  is  just,  let  him  be  justified 
still :  and  he  that  is  holy,  let  him  be  sanctified 
still"  (Apoc.  xxii.  11).  It  is  the  duty  of  every 
Christian  to  aim  at  perfection  :  "  Be  ye  therefore 
perfect  as  also  your  heavenly  Father  is  perfect  " 
(St.  Matt.  v.  48). 

It  is  impossible  for  us  to  be  perfect  in  fact,  so 
we  must  understand  that  our  perfection  consists 
in  striving,  to  the  best  of  our  power,  to  copy  the 
great  example  put  before  us.  Every  Christian, 
therefore,  ought  to  try  diligently  to  amend  his 
faults  and  to  acquire  fresh  virtues.  If  he  does 
not  do  this,  in  some  degree,  he  is  pretty  sure  to 
fall  away  and  to  become  worse  as  he  grows 
older. 

Penance  is  the  special  sacrament  given  us 
for  this  purpose.  It  encourages  us,  and  almost 
obliges  us,  to  look  into  ourselves  and  see  what 
our  faults  are,  and  to  make  good  resolutions  for 
the  future  ;  and,  in  addition,  it  bestows  special 
graces  from  God  to  enable  us  to  amend  our 
lives. 

For  this   purpose,    however,    it   is    obviously 


216  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

necessary  that  Confession  should  be  repeated 
at  moderately  short  intervals.  How  could  it 
seriously  affect  our  conduct  if  we  received  it  on 
rare  and  distant  occasions  ?  Accordingly,  all 
good  Catholics  who  desire  to  please  God  make 
a  point  of  going  frequently  to  confession,  and 
are  uneasy  if  they  feel  that  they  have  allowed 
too  long  a  time  to  elapse  without  having  made 
use  of  this  means  of  grace,  even  if  they  are  not 
conscious  of  having  committed  serious  sins. 

Protestants  sometimes  say:  "How  bad  your 
people  must  be  if  they  have  so  many  sins  to 
confess."  Not  at  all.  It  is  not  because  they 
have  many  or  grievous  sins  to  confess  that 
they  go  so  often,  but  they  want  to  overcome  the 
frailties,  and  the  many  faults  they  find  in  them 
selves.  St.  John  says  in  his  first  Epistle.:  "  If 
we  say  we  have  no  sin,  we  deceive  ourselves  and 
the  truth  is  not  in  us.  If  we  confess  our  sins, 
He  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins, 
and  to  cleanse  us  from  all  iniquity  "  (i  St.  John 
i.  8). 

We  are  aware  that  we  have  plenty  of  faults, 
and  think  that  regular  self-examination  and 
confession  of  our  sins,  whether  great  or  small, 
with  graces  bestowed  by  the  Sacraments  of 
Penance  and  the  Holy  Eucharist,  are  a  sovereign 
remedy  given  us  by  God. 

The  want  of  comprehension  of  this  simple  fact 
leads  many  Protestant  writers  into  great  absur 
dities.  I  have  read  somewhere  in  Protestant 
fiction  of  a  lady,  who,  "  having  got  over 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  217 

the  hysterical  agonies  of  self-abasement  which 
characterised  her  earlier  confessions,  had  now 
settled  down  into  a  mere  lifeless  routine  " — or 
some  such  words.  Nothing  can  be  more  absurd. 
Catholics  go  to  confession  in  a  most  prosaic 
manner,  without  any  sort  of  hysterical  excite 
ment.  They  use  the  sacrament  carefully  and 
thankfully,  prepare  themselves  diligently  for  it, 
and  hope,  at  any  rate,  to  derive  spiritual  benefits 
from  it.  Confession,  on  the  other  hand,  never 
sinks  to  a  mere  routine,  but  is  always  considered 
as  a  most  important  duty  and  is  accompanied  by 
many  prayers.  Is  is  plain,  however,  that  a  duty 
which  you  have  to  do  every  few  weeks,  however 
important  you  consider  it,  can  never  cause  any 
great  excitement,  but  naturally  becomes  a  matter 
of  course,  however  diligently  it  is  done.  This 
applies  to  ordinary  confessions,  but  plainly  the 
conversion  of  a  sinner  is  a  thing  which  makes  a 
much  deeper  impression. 

I  now  come  to  another  very  common  objection. 
People  say  :  "  You  go  to  confession,  and  think 
you  have  got  rid  of  all  your  sins,  and  need  not 
trouble  about  them  any  further,  but  can  com 
fortably  begin  a  new  score."  Such  things  you 
hear  pretty  often  said  or  implied.  Of  course, 
they  are  said  by  people  who  have  absolutely  no 
knowledge  or  experience  of  the  effects  of  the 
Sacrament  of  Penance. 

When  you  think  of  it,  it  is  a  most  remarkable 
opinion.  Why  should  you  forget  all  your  sins, 
and  discharge  them  from  your  mind  because  you 


218  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

have  confessed  them  ?  Is  it  because  you  have 
taken  the  trouble  to  examine  your  own  conscience 
and  consider  what  your  sins  really  are,  instead 
of  contenting  yourself  with  a  vague  and  misty 
feeling  of  sinfulness?  Or  is  it  because  you  have 
been  at  some  pains  to  make  an  act  of  sorrow 
for  them  and  a  good  resolution  against  them? 
Surely,  no  one  will  seriously  maintain  that  these 
things  are  likely  to  make  you  forget?  Then  it 
must  be  because  you  have  reason  to  believe  that 
your  sins  are  forgiven. 

When  Nathan  said  to  David:  "The  Lord 
also  hath  taken  away  thy  sin  ;  thou  shalt  not 
die"  (2  Kings  xii.  13),  are  we  to  suppose 
David  promptly  forgot  all  about  his  iniquity? 
So  when  our  Lord  said  to  the  man  with  the 
palsy :  "  Be  of  good  heart,  son,  thy  sins  are 
forgiven  thee "  (St.  Matt.  ix.  2),  will  anyone 
pretend  that  this  forgiveness  was  likely  to  have 
an  injurious  effect  on  the  sinner  who  was  thus 
assured  of  forgiveness  ? 

Our  Lord  many  times  repeated  this  assurance 
of  forgiveness,  as  if  such  assurance  was  neces 
sary  to  enable  men  to  profit  by  other  gifts. 
Indeed,  how  could  a  man  lead  a  Christian  life  if 
he  had  not  a  reasonable  ground  for  hoping  that 
he  was  living  in  the  grace  of  God  ?  The  Psalmist 
says  :  "I  said  I  will  confess  against  myself  my 
injustice  to  the  Lord,  and  thou  hast  forgiven  the 
wickedness  of  my  sin"  (Ps.  xxxi.  5).  Why  should 
not  Catholics  also  confess  their  iniquity,  and 
rejoice  to  think  that  God  has  forgiven  them  ? 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  219 

In  fact,  Catholics  do  not  forget  their  sins 
because  they  have  confessed  them,  but  each 
confession  brings  with  it  a  renewal  of  sorrow  for 
all  the  past  sins  of  our  lives.  The  book  of 
Ecclesiasticus  says  :  "  Be  not  without  fear  about 
sin  forgiven,  and  add  not  sin  upon  sin  "  (Ecclus. 
v.  5).  No  one  can  be  absolutely  sure  that  he  is 
in  a  state  of  grace.  The  Scripture  says  a  "  man 
knoweth  not  whether  he  be  worthy  of  love  or 
hatred  "  (Eccles.  ix.  i)  ;  still  it  is  the  greatest 
possible  blessing  to  have  a  plain  way  opened 
to  us  by  which  we  may  obtain  a  reasonably  con 
fident  hope  that  we  have  received  God's  pardon. 

In  order  to  avoid  any  danger  of  forgetting 
past  sins,  it  is  the  custom  amongst  Catholics 
always  to  make  a  general  mention  of  past  sins, 
and  to  include  them  expressly  in  their  act  of 
contrition. 

But  what  about  Protestants?  They,  too 
believe  that  their  sins  are  forgiven  them.  They 
are  not  quite  sure  when  or  how,  or  where,  but 
they  seem  at  least  as  confident  about  their 
pardon  as  Catholics  are  ;  indeed,  to  us,  they 
sometimes  appear  a  little  too  confident.  How  is 
it  that  the  feeling  that  they  are  pardoned  does 
not  produce  in  them  the  disastrous  effects  they 
suppose  Confession  and  Absolution  to  produce 
in  Catholics?  In  fact,  the  objection  does  not 
admit  of  argument,  but  is  simply  an  ingrained 
prejudice.  Protestants,  in  spite  of  all  we  can 
say,  and  all  that  is  written  in  our  books,  choose 
to  believe  that  the  Sacrament  of  Penance  does 


22O  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

not  require  a  real  contrition  and  purpose  of 
amendment,  and  judge  us  unjustly  in  con 
sequence. 

It  is  also  objected  that  Confession  leads  to 
scruples.  Certainly  it  may,  and  so  may  every 
thing  else.  A  scrupulous  person  will  be  scrupu 
lous  about  everything,  and  the  only  thing  which 
can  really  cure  scrupulosity  is  the  direction  to  be 
found  in  the  confessional.  If  one  who  is 
scrupulous  will  only  follow  advice  and  be 
obedient,  he  will  speedily  be  freed  from  his 
trouble. 

Those  who  give  way  to  a  scrupulous  turn  of 
mind  are  exposed  to  great  dangers.  There  is 
no  end  to  the  different  subjects  on  which 
scruples  will  arise,  and  scrupulous  people  often 
waste  their  lives  in  brooding  over  imaginary 
difficulties  and  sins.  Whatever  they  do  seems 
wrong  ;  and  their  religion,  instead  of  bringing 
peace  and  joy,  is  a  perpetual  pain.  Moreover, 
those  who  are  scrupulous  over  trifles,  are  easily 
led  to  disregard  serious  matters.  They  are  so 
busy  with  sins  which  exist  only  in  their  own 
imagination  that  they  cannot  attend  properly  to 
the  real  duties  of  a  religious  life,  or  guard 
efficiently  against  real  dangers. 

Scruples  are  really  a  sort  of  false  conscience, 
and  you  cannot  disregard  them  without  appear 
ing  to  go  against  the  dictates  of  your  conscience. 
The  only  remedy  is  to  appeal  to  a  higher  con 
science,  which  tells  you  that  it  is  your  duty  to 
disregard  these  appearances  of  evil,  and  go  on 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  221 


your  way  calmly  in  spite  of  them.  This,  how 
ever,  it  is  very  hard  to  do  without  some  impartial 
advice,  fitted  to  show  you  what  really  are  the 
true  dictates  of  conscience  which  have  to  be 
followed. 

A  scrupulous  person,  therefore,  should  take 
pains  to  find  out  a  judicious  confessor,  and  then 
most  carefully  follow  his  advice  and  direction. 

I  must  now  speak  of  the  preparation  for  Con 
fession.  This  is  a  very  important  matter, 
because,  as  I  have  said,  what  we  receive  from 
the  sacraments  is  in  proportion  to  our  capacity 
for  receiving  ;  and  that  generally  depends  on  the 
pains  we  have  taken  in  preparing  ourselves  for 
receiving  them. 

We  have  to  examine  our  consciences.  This 
is  obvious,  because  it  would  plainly  be  a 
mockery  if  we  pretended  to  confess  our  sins  with 
out  having  taken  at  least  reasonable  trouble  to 
find  out  what  they  were.  It  is  a  great  mistake, 
however,  to  give  too  much  time  to  this  part  of 
the  work.  It  is  common  enough  to  find  people 
who  exhaust  themselves  in  remembering  their 
sins  with  unnecessary  minuteness,  and  then 
have  very  little  time  to  give  to  that  which  is 
much  more  important,  namely,  those  prayers 
and  considerations  which  are  necessary  to  put 
themselves  into  good  dispositions  of  hearty 
sorrow  and  firm  purpose  of  amendment.  In 
most  prayer  books  you  find  an  "  Examination  of 
Conscience,"  that  is,  a  series  of  questions  which 
you  may  ask  yourself  about  your  past  sins. 


222  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

People  often  waste  time,  and  perhaps  make 
themselves  scrupulous  by  reading  these,  and  so, 
generally  speaking,  it  is  better  to  avoid  them. 

The  best  way  as  a  general  rule  to  make  a 
good  examination  of  conscience  seems  to  be 
careful  consideration  of  the  different  duties  of 
your  life.  If  you  know  how  you  have  done  these, 
you  also  know  pretty  well  what  sins  you  have 
committed. 

Our  first  duty  is  immediately  to  God.  We 
have  to  reverence,  serve,  and  love  our  Creator  ; 
—to  pay  Him,  as  I  have  said,  the  worship  of 
faith,  of  hope,  and  of  charity.  We  have  also 
to  perform  the  duties  demanded  by  the  virtue  of 
religion — which  are  the  practical  carrying  out 
of  these  virtues.  Have  we  been  reverent  to 
God?  Have  we  paid  our  debt  of  prayer  to  Him 
as  we  ought?  Do  we  try  to  love  Him  and  please 
Him  ?  Do  we  take  reasonable  pains  in  His 
service,  and  give  reasonable  time  to  it?  Under 
this  head  come  all  the  duties  commanded  by  the 
Church  in  His  Name  and  for  His  honour  :  such 
as  hearing  Mass,  receiving  the  sacraments,  and 
observing  the  laws  of  the  Church. 

Next  come  our  duties  to  our  neighbours  : 
duties  to  superiors,  equals  and  inferiors.  These 
involve  our  duties  to  our  own  families  and  those 
duties  of  our  state  of  life,  which  bring  us  into 
constant  communication  with  others.  It  is 
simple  enough  to  ask  ourselves  whether  we 
have  been  just  and  honest  and  straightforward 
in  our  dealings  with  them,  and  also  whether 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  223 

we  have  been  kind  and  forbearing  as  we  ought 
to  have  been. 

The  third  point  of  examination  is,  in  some 
respects,  the  most  difficult,  and  that  is  our  duties 
to  ourselves. 

To  this  class  belong  the  consideration  of  the 
good  or  bad  use  of  all  the  gifts  of  body  and 
mind  which  we  possess.  We  ought  to  be,  as 
St.  Peter  tells  us,  "  good  stewards  of  the  mani 
fold  grace  of  God"  (i  St.  Peter  iv.  10);  and, 
therefore,  we  have  to  ask  ourselves  whether  we 
have  used  our  bodies  and  our  souls  as  we  ought. 
Have  we  used  our  time  and  talents  as  our 
Master  would  wish  us  ?  or  have  we,  like  the 
wicked  servant  in  the  parable,  made  no  use  at 
all  of  them  ?  or  worse,  have  we  made  an  evil 
use  of  them  ?  This  involves  an  inquiry  into  our 
own  secret  thoughts,  and  many  things  which  do 
not  immediately  affect  our  neighbours.  These 
are  often  grievously  sinful,  as  being  an  abuse  of 
the  powers  of  body  and  mind  given  to  us. 

In  this  world,  people  are  very  apt  to  forget 
the  importance  of  these  things,  and  yet  these 
secret  thoughts  are  the  sources  of  all  evil.  Our 
Lord  says  :  "  From  the  heart  come  forth  evil 
thoughts,  murders,  adulteries"  (St.  Matt.  xv. 
19);  and  also  He  says:  "  Blessed  are  the 
clean  of  heart,  for  they  shall  see  God "  (St. 
Matt.  v.  8).  It  would  be  to  little  purpose, 
therefore,  for  us  to  know  what  external  sins  we 
had  committed,  if  we  did  not  take  into  con 
sideration  the  secret  thoughts  from  which  they 


224  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

sprung.  Under  this  heading  come  sins  of 
thought  of  all  kinds,  and  all  sins  of  excess 
and  self-indulgence. 

It  must  be  observed,  however,  that  people 
often  fail  to  distinguish  sufficiently  between 
temptations  and  sins.  Everyone  is  liable  to 
temptations,  and  to  temptations  of  the  worst 
description.  Even  the  saints  were  not  free  from 
them.  St.  Paul  says  :  "  There  was  given  to  me 
a  sting  of  my  flesh,  an  angel  of  Satan  to  buffet 
me.  For  which  thing  thrice  I  besought  the 
Lord  that  it  might  depart  from  me.  And  he 
said  to  me  :  My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee  :  for 
power  is  made  perfect  in  infirmity  "  (2  Cor. 
xii.  7). 

We  cannot  expect  to  be  free  from  such 
assaults.  All  we  have  to  do,  when  assailed  by 
evil  thoughts,  is  calmly  to  turn  away  from  them 
and  direct  our  minds  to  something  else,  saying, 
if  we  can,  some  short  prayer.  If  we  do  this, 
instead  of  committing  a  sin,  we  have  gained  a 
victory. 

There  are  two  of  these  points,  however, 
on  which  it  is  desirable  to  make  a  special 
examination.  The  first  of  these  is  the  duties 
of  one's  state  of  life.  Every  good  Christian 
ought  to  take  very  much  to  heart  the  duties 
of  his  particular  calling.  These  duties  are 
the  work  which  God  has  given  him  to  do 
in  life,  and  naturally  they  occupy  the  largest 
part  of  his  time,  and  he  should  look  on 
them  as  the  ladder  by  which  God  means  him  to 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  225 

climb  to  heaven.  He  should,  therefore,  ask 
himself  whether  he  is  doing  them  carefully, 
conscientiously  and  kindly,  and  try  to  correct 
any  faults  he  may  discover  in  the  performance 
of  them. 

The  second  point  is  to  consider  how  he 
carries  out  the  laws  of  the  Church.  It  is  hardly 
necessary  to  say  that  these  are  really  the  laws 
of  God,  since  our  only  motive  for  obeying  them 
is  the  obedience  we  owe  to  God.  From  the 
nature  of  them,  they  are  often  a  more  distinct 
trial  of  our  obedience  than  anything  else.  They 
are,  besides,  a  great  proof  of  our  loyalty,  because 
they  are,  in  a  special  way,  the  outward  signs  of 
our  profession.  By  observing  them  carefully 
we  confess  our  Lord  before  men  :  "  Everyone, 
therefore,  that  shall  confess  me  before  men,  I 
will  also  confess  him  before  my  Father  Who  is 
in  heaven  "  (St.  Matt.  x.  32).  The  laws  of  the 
Church  often  give  us  our  best  opportunity  of 
confessing  Christ  before  men.  Everyone,  there 
fore,  should  ask  himself  whether  he  has  been 
true  to  this  confession,  or  whether,  out  of  care 
lessness,  cowardice,  or  self-indulgence,  he  has 
neglected  to  make  this  true  confession. 

If  anyone  periodically  asked  himself  a  few 
questions  on  the  points  I  have  suggested,  I 
think  he  would  pretty  well  know,  as  St.  James 
(i.  24)  says,  "what  manner  of  man  he  was,"  and  he 
would  probably  find  out  very  easily  what  sins 
he  had  to  confess,  and  see  in  what  particulars 
amendment  was  necessary. 

16 


226  Tlie  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

The  preparation  for  confession  ought  always 
to  begin  with  earnest  prayer  and  a  sense  of  the 
presence  of  God.  The  Catechism  says  :  "  First, 
we  must  heartily  pray  for  grace  to  make  a  good 
confession  ;  secondly,  we  must  carefully  examine 
our  conscience  ;  thirdly,  we  must  take  time  and 
care  to  make  a  good  act  of  contrition  ;  and 
fourthly,  we  must  resolve  by  the  grace  of  God  to 
renounce  our  sins,  and  to  begin  a  new  life  for 
the  future." 

The  most  important  part  of  all,  as  I  before 
said,  is  the  "  Act  of  Contrition."  By  this,  we 
humble  ourselves  before  God  and  ask  His 
pardon  :  we  try  to  feel  the  most  sincere  sorrow 
possible  for  past  offences  and  the  strongest 
possible  determination  to  amend  our  lives.  To 
this  part  of  the  preparation  we  cannot  give  too 
much  attention. 

But  supposing  some  one  says  :  u  I  do  not  feel 
any  sorrow  for  my  past  sins  "? 

The  catechism  tells  us  that :  "  We  may  obtain 
a  hearty  sorrow  for  our  sins  by  earnestly  praying 
for  it,  and  by  making  use  of  such  considerations 
as  may  lead  us  to  it."  If  anyone  is  not  sorry 
for  his  sins  it  is  his  own  fault.  If  he  chooses  to 
consider  the  evil  of  sin  in  itself,  since  it  is  a 
rebellion  against  his  Creator — and  its  terrible 
consequences,  since  it  must  inevitably  separate 
him  from  the  Supreme  Good — he  will  certainly 
be  sorry  for  his  sins.  The  best  way,  however, 
to  obtain  the  grace  of  contrition  is  to  place 
oneself  in  spirit  at  the  foot  of  the  cross  and  think 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  227 

of  all  that  the  Son  of  God,  made  man,  suffered 
to  redeem  us  from  sin.  Nothing  can  give  us  a 
greater  idea  of  the  evil  of  sin  than  considering 
the  great  price  that  paid  the  atonement  for  it. 

One  great  object  of  the  Sacrament  of  Penance 
is  to  enable  us  to  make  progress  in  virtue,  but 
to  produce  this  effect  it  must  be  received  fre 
quently  and  regularly.  But  what  is  frequently  ? 
This,  of  course,  depends  on  the  condition  of  life 
in  which  people  find  themselves  placed  and  their 
own  spiritual  state.  We  read  of  saints  who 
went  to  confession  every  day,  but  this  cannot 
be  taken  as  a  rule  for  ordinary  people.  A 
good  many  people  go  to  confession  regularly 
every  week,  or  every  fortnight,  and  this  is  an 
excellent  practice  for  those  who  really  aim  at 
perfection,  supposing  their  avocations  in  life 
allow  them  the  opportunity.  If  you  do  this, 
you  have  a  great  insight  into  your  habitual 
faults  and  a  constant  incentive  to  amend  them. 

Most  people  could  very  well  manage  to  go  to 
confession  and  communion  every  month  if  they 
wished.  To  those  who  go  irregularly,  whenever 
the  fancy  takes  them,  and  at  long  intervals,  con 
fession  is  valuable  indeed  as  a  means  of  obtain 
ing  the  pardon  of  God,  but  cannot  be  much  help 
in  a  religious  life. 

Besides  ordinary  confessions,  it  is  usual  to 
make  "  general  confessions  "  from  time  to  time 
— that  is,  to  make  an  examination  and  confession 
of  one's  whole  life,  or  of  some  longish  portion 
of  it.  Those  who  periodically  make  spiritual 


228  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

retreats,  generally  think  it  well  to  make  a  con 
fession  of  all  the  principal  things  since  the  last 
retreat,  or  some  longer  time.  Confessions  like 
these  give  us  an  opportunity  of  seeing  how  we 
are  getting  on  in  the  service  of  God,  and  make 
it  easier  to  obtain  a  specially  earnest  contrition 
and  to  make  more  determined  and  vigorous 
plans  for  self-improvement. 

In  such  confessions  it  is  not  necessary  to 
mention  everything  in  detail,  or,  indeed,  to 
confess  any  sin,  unless  there  is  real  reason  for 
supposing  that  it  has  never  been  confessed 
before. 

The  only  objection  to  frequent  confession  is  in 
the  case  of  scrupulous  people.  Their  scrupu 
losity  often  takes  the  form  of  urging  them  to  go 
to  confession  very  frequently,  not  from  a  desire 
to  amend  their  faults,  but  because  they  are 
perpetually  dissatisfied  with  their  past  confes 
sions,  or  because  they  are  always  fancying  that 
they  have  fallen  into  some  sin  or  other.  In  such 
cases,  people  should  be  entirely  guided  by  the 
advice  of  their  confessors,  since,  as  I  before 
said,  a  rigorous  obedience  is  the  only  way  to  get 
rid  of  the  dangerous  fault  of  scrupulosity. 

In  all  prayer-books  you  find  a  form  of  con 
fession  laid  down.  You  ask  the  priest's  blessing, 
and  then  say  the  first  half  of  the  Confiteor. 
After  making  your  confession,  it  is  usual  to 
finish  with  a  little  prayer  including  in  general 
terms  any  other  sins  that  you  may  have  for 
gotten.  It  is  well,  however,  to  remark  that 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  229 

these  forms  are  quite  unnecessary,  and,  gener 
ally  speaking,  the  best  way  is  to  begin  at  once 
by  mentioning  how  long  it  is  since  your  last 
confession.  This  saves  a  good  deal  of  time, 
and  you  may  very  well  say  the  form  of  confes 
sion  before  you  go  in,  though  you  need  not 
do  so. 

I  must  add  a  few  words  about  the  choice  of  a 
confessor.  The  Church  leaves  us  perfectly  free 
to  choose  any  priest  having  faculties.  The 
parish  priest  (where  there  are  parishes)  has  a 
right  to  administer  the  Holy  Viaticum  and 
Extreme  Unction,  but  you  need  not  make  him 
your  confessor.  Moreover,  you  can  change 
whenever  you  please.  Should  it  happen,  for 
instance,  that  on  any  occasion  you  prefer  to  go 
to  a  stranger,  you  are  quite  at  liberty  to  do  so  ; 
and  you  need  not  tell  your  ordinary  confessor 
that  you  have  done  so. 

It  is  very  important  not  to  attach  yourself  too 
much  to  any  one  priest :  you  ought  to  be  ready 
to  go  to  any  confessor  who  is  within  your  reach. 
If  you  make  a  point  of  always  going  to  the 
same  person,  you  are  often  prevented  from  going 
regularly  to  your  duties,  and  run  the  risk  of 
thinking  too  much  of  the  man,  and  too  little  of 
the  sacrament.  It  is  to  our  Lord  we  must  look, 
and  not  to  the  individual  who  for  the  moment 
holds  His  place. 

It  is  a  good  thing,  however,  to  have  some 
" director" — that  is,  some  priest  whose  advice  in 
spiritual  matters  you  may  occasionally  seek. 


230  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

In  the  Holy  Scriptures  we  constantly  see  that 
God  used  other  men  to  direct  even  His  greatest 
servants.  "  Arise  and  go  into  the  city,  and 
there  it  shall  be  told  thee  what  thou  must  do  " 
(Acts  ix.  7).  If  our  Lord  made  use  of  Ananias 
to  direct  St.  Paul,  it  is  not  wonderful  that  we 
should  be  obliged  to  seek  the  direction  of  others 
in  order  to  learn  the  will  of  God. 

Direction,  however,  does  not  mean  that  we 
give  over  the  charge  of  our  souls  to  another. 
Ultimately  we  have  to  follow  our  own  con 
sciences  ;  but  these  often  require  to  be  enlight 
ened,  and  if  we  do  not  take  pains  to  get  all  the 
light  we  can,  it  is  our  own  fault  if  we  go  astray 
in  difficult  matters. 

There  is  another  point  connected  with  penance 
on  which  I  wish  to  dwell — that  is,  on  indul 
gences. 

This,  in  detail,  is  rather  a  difficult  and  com 
plicated  question,  but  the  principle  of  it  is 
exceedingly  simple.  The  doctrine  of  indulgences 
follows  very  immediately  and  plainly  from  the 
belief  that  we  are  accountable  to  God  for  all  our 
actions.  By  this  we  mean  that  God  takes  note 
of  every  offence  which  men  commit  against  His 
law,  and  punishes  men  for  all  their  offences. 
Sometimes  men  rebel  against  God  in  such  a 
complete  manner  as  to  cut  themselves  off  from 
Him  altogether  ;  but  even  when  their  sins  are  not 
sufficiently  grievous  for  this,  they  deserve  punish 
ment,  and  incur  a  debt,  if  we  may  say  so,  to  the 
justice  of  God,  which  has  to  be  paid  somehow. 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  231 

This  principle  seems  to  be  the  foundation  of 
all  religion.  I  should  think  there  never  was  a 
religion  which  did  not  hold  that  men  were 
responsible  to  their  Creator  for  their  actions. 

St.  Paul  says  :  "  He  thatcometh  to  God  must 
believe  that  He  is,  and  is  a  rewarder  to  them 
that  seek  Him  "  (Heb.  xi.  6).  And  God  in 
Scripture  is  described  as  a  patient  rewarder.  The 
Old  and  the  New  Testaments  are  full  of  this 
thought  that  men  must  render  an  account  of  all 
their  actions.  In  Genesis  we  read  :  "  If  thou  do 
well,  shalt  thou  not  receive  ?  But  if  ill,  shall 
not  sin  forthwith  be  present  at  the  door  ?  "  (Gen. 
iv.  7).  In  the  Apocalypse,  the  last  book  of  the 
Bible,  we  find  the  same  :  ' '  Behold  I  come  quickly, 
and  my  reward  is  with  me  to  render  to  everyone 
according  to  his  works  "  (Apoc.  xxii.  12).  And 
our  Lord  Himself  says  that  "  every  idle  word  that 
men  shall  speak,  they  shall  render  an  account 
for  it  in  the  day  of  judgment "  (St.  Matt, 
xii.  36). 

In  the  Old  Testament,  moreover,  we  find  that 
God,  in  His  dealings,  insists  very  much  on  some 
punishment,  and  this,  even  with  His  chosen 
servants,  sometimes  in  cases  where  the  fault 
appears  to  us  to  be  trifling.  For  instance, 
when  Moses  had  twice  struck  the  rock,  the  Lord 
said:  "  Because  you  have  not  believed  Me,  to 
sanctify  Me  before  the  children  of  Israel,  you 
shall  not  bring  these  people  into  the  land  which 
I  shall  give  them  "  (Num.  xx.  12).  Again, 
when  King  David  numbered  the  people,  how 


232  T7ie  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

severe,  as  we  should  say,  was  the  Lord  in  His 
punishment ! 

The  debt  which  we  owe  to  the  justice  of 
Almighty  God  is  contracted  in  two  ways.  The 
Catechism  says  :  "  Those  souls  go  to  Purgatory 
that  depart  this  life  in  venial  sin  ;  or  that  have 
not  fully  paid  the  debt  of  temporal  punishment 
due  to  those  sins  of  which  the  guilt  has  been 
forgiven."  First  as  to  mortal  sins.  When  the 
sin  has  been  forgiven — that  is,  when  the  special 
guilt  of  rebellion  which  is  the  essential  quality 
of  mortal  sin  has  been  remitted — there  still 
remains  a  heavy  debt  to  be  paid.  "  And  David 
said  to  Nathan  :  I  have  sinned  against  the  Lord. 
And  Nathan  said  to  David  :  The  Lord  also  hath 
taken  away  thy  sin  ;  thou  shalt  not  die.  Never 
theless  because  thou  hast  given  occasion  to  the 
enemies  of  the  Lord  to  blaspheme,  for  this  thing, 
the  child  that  is  born  to  thee  shall  surely  die  " 
(2  Kings  xii.  13). 

Here  we  have  clearly  laid  down  that  repent 
ance  and  forgiveness  do  not  necessarily  bring 
with  them  a  deliverance  from  all  the  punishment 
the  sin  has  deserved.  If  all  punishment  were 
always  remitted  on  repentance,  there  would  be 
an  end  of  the  principle  that  God  will  render  to 
everyone  "  according  to  his  works."  But  pun 
ishment  is  also  due  for  venial  sins.  These  sins, 
as  I  have  said,  come  generally  from  the  weakness 
of  our  nature,  from  surprise,  inadvertence,  and 
other  causes  which  we  cannot  altogether  avoid. 
We  cannot  avoid  them  certainly,  but  we  could 


The    Treasure  of  the  Church.  233 

very  much  reduce  the  number  of  them.  If  we 
watched  and  prayed  as  our  Lord  tells  us  to  do, 
we  should  commit,  in  comparison,  very  few  of 
those  venial  sins.  Naturally  we  are  responsible 
to  God,  not  for  the  weakness  of  our  nature,  but  for 
the  want  of  proper  diligence  and  care  which  lead 
to  so  many  faults. 

When  we  think  how  many  great  sins  men 
commit,  and  how  very  little  trouble  the  gener 
ality  of  men  take  to  avoid  smaller  sins,  it  is  only 
too  plain  that  most  of  us  are  debtors  to  God's 
justice. 

From  the  belief  that  by  every  sin  we  incur  a 
debt,  comes  naturally  the  desire  to  do  something 
to  pay  this  debt  whenever  we  can  do  so.  It 
would  seem  very  hard  if  we  were  not  allowed  to 
do  so  in  this  life  ;  and  our  Lord  expressly  says  : 
"Be  at  agreement  with  thy  adversary  betimes 
whilst  thou  art  in  the  way  with  him  :  lest 
perhaps  the  adversary  deliver  thee  to  the  judge, 
and  the  judge  deliver  thee  to  the  officer,  and 
thou  be  cast  into  prison.  Amen  I  say  to  thee, 
thou  shalt  not  go  out  from  thence  till  thou  repay 
the  last  farthing  "  (St.  Matt.  v.  25). 

Such  a  desire  on  our  part  to  do  something  to 
atone  for  our  sins,  and  to  pay  the  debt  contracted 
must  be  pleasing  to  God.  A  servant,  we  are 
told,  was  brought  to  his  master,  owing  him  ten 
thousand  talents  which  he  could  not  pay.  "  But 
that  servant  falling  down  besought  him,  saying  : 
Have  patience  with  me  and  I  will  pay  thee  all  " 
(St.  Matt,  xviii.  26).  Although  he  could  not 


234  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

discharge  the  debt,  his  very  desire  must  have 
had  some  influence  in  obtaining  the  pardon, 
of  which  he  afterwards  showed  himself  so 
unworthy. 

If  one  of  us  had  two  debtors,  owing  us  large 
sums,  and  one  of  them  showed  himself  very 
anxious  to  do  something  in  payment,  whilst  the 
other  simply  dismissed  his  debt  from  his  mind, 
I  think  we  should  greatly  favour  the  former. 

We  cannot  doubt,  therefore,  that  our  Lord 
helps  those  who  show  an  anxiety  to  do  some 
thing  to  atone.  He  accepts  easy  payment  from 
them  :  He  accepts  their  atonement  when  they 
udo  penance  in  sackcloth  and  ashes"  (St. 
Matt.  xi.  21).  He  accepts  their  patient  bearing 
of  the  sufferings  He  may  please  to  send  them 
in  this  life  ;  and,  most  of  all,  He  accepts  what 
ever  offerings  of  love  they  may  make  to  Him. 
"  Many  sins  are  forgiven  her,  because  she  hath 
loved  much  "  (St.  Luke  vii.  47).  An  earnest 
love  of  our  Lord,  and  of  the  poor  for  His  sake, 
are  the  best  things  which  men  can  do  to  pay  the 
debt  incurred  by  sin. 

From  this  it  seems  to  follow,  that  part  of  the 
office  of  the  Church  must  be  to  assist  those  who 
are  in  these  dispositions.  The  Church  is  estab 
lished  on  earth  on  purpose  to  carry  out  His  bene 
ficent  will  to  sinners.  For  this  He  said  :  "  All 
power  is  given  to  me  in  heaven  and  upon  earth  " 
(St.  Matt,  xxviii.  18).  "  Whatsoever  you  shall 
bind  upon  earth  shall  be  bound  also  in  heaven, 
and  whatsoever  you  shall  loose  upon  earth  shall 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  235 

be  loosed  also  in  heaven  "  (St.  Matt,  xviii. 
1 8).  This  is  precisely  what  the  Church  does 
when  she  grants  indulgences.  She  seems 
to  say  to  us:  "  You  know  that  you  owe  a 
heavy  debt  to  the  justice  of  God  and  earnestly 
wish  to  pay  some  of  it :  I  therefore,  in  His 
Name,  and  by  His  authority,  provide  you 
with  certain  easy  ways  by  which  you  may, 
in  part,  pay  that  great  debt  you  owe.  You 
must,  however,  first  reconcile  yourself  with 
Him  by  contrition  and  the  use  of  the  sacraments. 
I  can  do  nothing  for  you  so  long  as  you 
remain  in  a  state  of  rebellion  against  your 
Creator." 

The  Church  then  proceeds  to  grant  indul 
gences —  sometimes  plenary,  sometimes  for  a 
number  of  years,  with  a  corresponding  number 
of  quarantines  or  periods  of  forty  days  —  on 
certain  conditions.  Plenary  indulgences  are  the 
remission  of  the  whole  debt  due,  and  the  partial 
indulgences  are  a  remission  of  that  part  of  the 
debt  which  would  correspond  to  a  canonical 
penance,  such  as  the  early  Church  would  have 
imposed  for  certain  sins. 

Now  comes  the  question  :  Why  should  there 
be  so  many  indulgences,  and  particularly  why 
should  there  be  more  than  one  "  plenary  indul 
gence  "  ?  A  plain  answer  to  this  is  that  in  this 
life  we  keep  on  sinning — "  A  just  man  shall  fall 
seven  times,  and  shall  rise  again  "  (Prov.  xxiv. 
16) ;  and  "If  we  say  that  we  have  no  sin,  we 
deceive  ourselves "  (i.  John  i.  8) — therefore  so 


236  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

long  as  we  live  we  ought  to  keep  on  making 
efforts  to  pay  the  debt  incurred  by  our  sins. 
We  may  also  say  that  these  indulgences  are 
granted  on  certain  conditions,  and  it  is  very 
difficult  or  impossible  for  us  to  say  how  far  we 
have  complied  with  these  conditions. 

The  opinions  of  theologians  are  rather  divided 
as  to  the  exact  effect  of  indulgences  received 
with  the  imperfect  dispositions  which  most  of 
us,  or  all  of  us,  have.  Then  you  will  say  :  I 
cannot  know  how  much  I  have  gained  by  my 
indulgences  ?  I  reply  :  Certainly  you  cannot — 
and  a  very  good  thing  too.  It  is  your  duty  to 
do  what  you  can  to  pay  your  debt,  but  you  are 
not  to  keep  a  debtor  and  creditor  account  with 
Almighty  God. 

It  is  almost  necessary  for  us  to  have  a  reason 
able  certainty  that  we  are  living  in  the  friendship 
of  God,  and  therefore  the  Church  tells  us  very 
clearly  what  has  to  be  done.  We  cannot  know 
with  certainty,  since  "  man  knoweth  not  whether 
he  be  worthy  of  love  or  hatred"  (Eccles.  ix.  i), 
but  we  may  have  all  reasonable  security  if 
we  have  honestly  used  the  means  of  reconciliation 
provided  for  us.  It  is  not  necessary,  however, 
for  us  to  know  exactly  how  much  of  our  debt  we 
have  succeeded  in  paying.  It  would  probably  be 
very  bad  for  us  if  we  did  know.  The  Church, 
therefore,  is  indefinite  on  such  questions,  and 
says  very  little  beyond  assuring  us  that  the 
pious  use  of  indulgences  will  be  very  valuable 
to  us  when  the  time  of  reckoning  comes  :  as  to 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  237 

further  particulars  she  leaves  us  to  form  our  own 
judgments. 

It  may  be  also  said  that  indulgences  arev  often 
granted  for  very  little  things.  The  Church 
wants  to  encourage  some  devout  prayers,  or 
charitable  works,  and  grants  indulgences  to 
those  who  practise  them.  We  may  say,  however 
that,  although  they  seem  so  easy,  the  number  of 
those  who  avail  themselves  of  them  is  not  very 
great.  People  who  are  very  much  in  earnest 
take  the  trouble  to  find  them  out  and  use  them 
— and  these  are  just  those  who  deserve  a 
remission  of  punishment. 

It  may  truly  be  said  that  an  anxiety  to  obtain 
indulgences  is  a  great  mark  of  earnestness,  and 
cannot  be  too  much  commended — unless,  indeed, 
it  be  allowed  to  interfere  with  the  time  and 
tranquility  of  mind  which  we  ought  to  devote 
to  prayer,  the  presence  of  God,  and  the  use  of 
the  Sacraments.  For  most  of  us,  practically,  it 
is  enough  to  be  anxious  to  obtain  the  indulgences 
granted  to  whatever  prayers  we  can  say,  and  to 
whatever  good  works  we  are  able  to  do,  without 
distracting  ourselves  by  going  too  closely  into 
the  details  of  a  great  number  of  indulgences. 

It  remains  to  consider  the  conditions  on  which 
indulgences  are  granted.  What  are  these  con 
ditions?  You  sometimes  see  or  hear  announce 
ments  that  "  indulgences  are  granted  on  the 
usual  terms" — which  to  some  people  sounds 
suggestive,  not  to  say  sinister.  There  is  nothing 
however,  very  alarming  in  them.  Take  the 


238  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

"  Manual  of  Prayer"  published  by  the  English 
Bishops,    and   you   will   find  the  Conditions  of 
Indulgences  as  follows  (Appendix  p.  15) : — 

"  i.  That  the  faithful  confess  their  sins,  with 
sincere  repentance,  to  a  priest  approved  by  the 
bishop. 

"  2.  That  they  worthily  receive  the  Holy 
Communion. 

"  3.  That,  if  their  state  and  condition  allow  it, 
they  give  some  alms  to  the  poor  on  the  eve  or 
on  the  day  of  their  Communion. 

"4.  That  on  the  day  of  their  Communion, 
they  offer  up  some  prayers  to  God,  for  the  whole 
state  of  the  Catholic  Church  throughout  the 
world  ;  for  bringing  back  all  straying  souls  to 
the  fold  of  Christ ;  for  the  general  peace  of 
Christendom  ;  and  for  the  blessing  of  God  upon 
this  nation." 

The  book  gives  several  other  sets  of  conditions, 
which,  however,  are  all  substantially  the  same. 

The  first  condition  for  gaining  the  benefit  of 
an  indulgence  always  is  to  be  in  a  state  of  grace. 
No  one  living  in  mortal  sin  can  possibly  benefit 
by  an  indulgence  so  long  as  he  remains  in  that 
state.  The  other  conditions  vary  according  to 
the  special  objects  for  which  the  indulgences  are 
granted.  They  are  given  for  money,  people 
exclaim.  Of  course,  they  are — that  is  to  say, 
almsgiving  in  some  form  or  other  is  generally 
made  one  of  the  conditions  for  obtaining  indul 
gences  when  people  can  afford  to  give.  "  Prayer 
fasting,  and  almsdeeds  "  have  always  been  con- 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  239 

sidered  as  pre-eminent  good  works.  "  Redeem 
thou  thy  sins  with  alms,  and  thy  iniquities  with 
works  of  mercy  to  the  poor  "  (Dan.  iv  24). 
"  Alms  deliver  from  all  sin  and  from  death"  (Tob. 
iv.  1 1).  The  Holy  Scripture  is  full  of  such  words. 
One  would  think  the  people  who  talk  about 
indulgences  had  never  heard  of  such  things  ! 
What  can  be  more  reasonable  than  that  a  rich 
man  should  be  required  to  give  alms,  either  to 
the  Church  or  to  the  poor,  as  a  condition  for 
paying  the  debt  he  owes  to  God,  particularly 
as,  generally  speaking,  his  wealth  has  a  great 
deal  to  do  with  his  sins  ? 

But  such  things  may  be  abused.  Of  that  I  have 
no  doubt,  since  there  is  nothing  to  be  found  on 
earth  which  men  do  not  abuse.  If  they  are 
abused,  so  much  the  worse  for  those  who  abuse 
them  ;  but  they  do  not  therefore  render  the 
reasonable  use  of  them  unlawful  or  inexpedient. 

A  great  deal  is  said,  for  instance,  about  the 
indulgences  granted  by  Pope  Leo  X.  He  was 
rebuilding  the  Basilica  of  St.  Peter,  which  may 
be  called  the  Cathedral  of  the  World.  Very 
naturally  he  made  some  contribution  corre 
sponding  with  their  means  one  of  the  conditions 
of  gaining  these  indulgences.  What  could  be 
more  reasonable  ?  Surely  it  is  a  good  work  to 
build  a  church  to  God's  honour.  We  all 
remember  with  what  liberality  the  Jews  gave 
for  ornamenting  the  tabernacle,  till  Moses  was 
obliged  to  forbid  further  offerings.  Indeed  they 
were  all  obliged  to  give — "  everyone  of  them  shall 


240  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

give  a  price  for  their  souls  to  the  Lord  "  (Exod. 
xxx.  12).  How,  then,  can  it  be  otherwise  than 
right  for  Christians  to  do  the  same  ?  Why  may 
not  such  contributions  be  considered  as  amongst 
those  things  by  which  men  pay  their  debt  to 
God's  justice  ? 

Similarly  the  Popes  granted  large  indulgences 
to  those  who  helped  in  the  wars  against  the 
Turks  ;  that  is,  contributions  in  money  or 
service  were  made,  for  people  who  could  afford 
them,  one  of  the  conditions  for  gaining  these 
indulgences.  Again,  what  could  be  more 
reasonable?  The  Christian  world  was  fighting 
for  its  existence  against  the  almost  overwhelming 
power  of  the  Turks.  Humanly  speaking,  Europe 
would  have  been  overrun  by  them,  but  for  the 
exertions  of  the  Popes — thanks  to  the  supineness 
of  the  European  nations.  Can  anyone  doubt 
that  to  assist  in  such  a  war  was  an  excellent 
good  work,  and  one  which  might  reasonably  be 
made  a  condition  for  the  forgiveness  of  the  debt 
of  temporal  punishment  due  for  sin  ? 

We  hear  a  great  deal  of  the  rapacity  of  the 
Popes  and  the  clergy,  but  perhaps  not  enough 
of  the  stinginess  of  the  laity.  It  is  difficult  to 
read  the  history  of  those  times  without  seeing 
how  very  backward  they  were  sometimes.  They 
expected  the  Popes  to  do  great  things  for  the 
defence  of  Christendom,  and  moreover  to  settle 
an  infinity  of  questions  from  all  parts  of  the 
world,  but  they  did  not  think  it  necessary  to 
supply  them  with  the  requisite  funds  to  carry 


The  Treasure  of  the  Church.  241 

out  the  work.  The  Popes  were  to  make  bricks, 
but  without  straw.  If  the  laity  had  been  a  little 
more  generous,  or  rather  more  just,  we  should 
have  heard  a  great  deal  less  of  Ecclesiastical 
rapacity. 

I  have  now  come  to  the  end  of  my  subject. 
I  have  considered  the  Holy  Eucharist  as  the 
one,  great,  central  mystery  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  the  Sacrament  of  Penance  as  an 
almost  necessary  accompaniment  of  the  Holy 
Eucharist. 

Let  me  recapitulate  in  a  few  words. 

The  Holy  Eucharist  is  the  great  treasure  of 
the  Church  as  a  body,  and  the  great  treasure  of 
every  Christian  soul.  By  It,  the  Incarnation  is 
extended  and  prolonged.  By  It,  the  Incarnation 
is  brought  home,  not  only  to  every  age  and 
every  country,  but  to  every  little  village  and  to 
every  household,  and  the  benefit  of  it  is  com 
municated  fully  to  every  Christian  soul. 

By  It,  the  Great  sacrifice  of  Mount  Calvary  is 
made  an  event  of  all  ages,  and  the  Lamb,  "slain 
from  the  beginning  of  the  world  "  (Apoc.  xiii. 
8),  is  presented  as  a  perpetual  sacrifice  in  which 
all  generations  may  share.  By  It,  all  men 
are  brought  into  communion  with  our  Lord, 
as  the  members  to  their  Head,  and  through 
Him  are  made  "  members  one  of  another" 
(Eph.  iv.  25).  By  It,  is  opened  that  great 
fountain  of  grace  which  God  has  given  to 
men,  and  men  on  earth  are  allowed  to  partake 
of  the  "  bread  of  angels  "  (Ps.  Ixxvii.  25). 

17 


242  The  Treasure  of  the  Church. 

Let  me  conclude  with  the  words  of  St  Cyril  of 
Alexandria  :  "  As  for  ourselves,  if  we  would  win 
life  everlasting  ;  if  we  would  that  the  Giver  of 
immortality  should  dwell  in  us,  let  us  run  freely 
to  receive  this  Blessing,  and  let  us  beware  that 
the  devil  succeed  not  in  laying  a  stumbling- 
block  in  our  way  in  the  shape  of  a  mistaken 
reverence.  .  .  Therefore  I  counsel  thee  to  betake 
thee  to  godly  thoughts,  and  to  live  carefully  and 
holily,  and  so  to  receive  that  Blessing — a  Bless 
ing  which,  believe  me,  doth  banish  not  death 
only,  but  all  diseases  likewise.  For  when  Christ 
dwelleth  in  us,  He  stilleth  the  law  of  death  in 
our  members,  which  warreth  against  the  law  of 
our  mind  ;  He  giveth  strength  to  godliness,  He 
turneth  to  calm  the  turbulent  surging  of  our 
mind,  He  cureth  them  that  are  sick,  He  raiseth 
up  them  which  are  fallen,  and,  like  the  Good 
Shepherd  who  giveth  His  life  for  the  sheep,  He 
prevailed!  that  the  sheep  perish  not."  (8th  and 
Lessons,  Oct.  day,  Corpus  Christi.) 


THE  END. 


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